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Singapore's manufacturing output declines 8.7 pct in April

Xinhua, May 26, 2015 Adjust font size:

Singapore's manufacturing output declined 8.7 percent year-on-year in April, said the Economic Development Board (EDB) on Tuesday.

According to data released by EDB, output, excluding biomedical manufacturing, fell by 1.9 percent on a year-on-year basis. On a seasonally adjusted month-on-month basis, manufacturing output decreased 5.8 percent. Excluding biomedical manufacturing, output fell 2.2 percent month-on-month.

The decline means that factory activity has contracted for three consecutive months, having fallen 5.5 percent in March and 3. 6 percent in February, said the Strait Times.

The biomedical manufacturing cluster's output declined 28.6 percent in April year-on-year, with pharmaceuticals output falling 38 percent due to lower production of active pharmaceutical ingredients and biological products. On the contrary, the medical technology segment expanded 28.1 percent due to robust demand for medical devices and supplies.

Output of the general manufacturing industries cluster contracted 5.1 percent last month on a year-on-year basis. While the food, beverages and tobacco segment increased 9 percent because of higher production of soft drinks and milk products, which was offset by the miscellaneous industries segment whose output declined 14.5 percent.

Electronics cluster output grew 1.2 percent year-on-year in April. The growth was supported by higher export demand in the other electronics modules and components, data storage and computer peripherals segments.

Output of precision engineering cluster contracted 2.1 percent year-on-year, with machinery and systems segment as well as precision modules and components segment declining.

Output of transport engineering cluster also declined 8.7 percent year-on-year, with the marine and offshore engineering segment falling by 10.5 percent on the back of lower levels of rig building activities. Endi