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Singapore's manufacturing output declines 2.3 pct in May year-on-year

Xinhua, June 26, 2015 Adjust font size:

Singapore's manufacturing output declined 2.3 percent in May on a year-on-year basis, according to latest news release by the Economic Development Board (EDB) on Friday.

Excluding biomedical manufacturing, output fell 2.2 percent year-on-year. On a three-month moving average basis, manufacturing output contracted 5.6 percent in May, compared to a year ago, said EDB in the press release.

On a seasonally-adjusted month-on-month basis, manufacturing output increased 2.4 percent in May, and excluding biomedical manufacturing, output grew up 1.1 percent month-on-month.

The chemicals cluster increased 1.3 percent in May year-on-year, with the petroleum segment expanding 6.5 percent as refineries increase throughput on the back of better refining margins.

On the other hand, output for the biomedical manufacturing cluster fell 2.6 percent year-on-year. Pharmaceuticals output declined 10.3 percent with a different mix of active pharmaceutical ingredients being produced. On the contrary, the medical technology segment expanded 34.6 percent as demand for medical devices and supplies remained strong.

The electronics cluster output fell 0.2 percent year-on-year. Declines in the semiconductors (-9.3 percent) and infocomms and consumer electronics (-11.8 percent) segments showed negative growth while other areas such as data storage (46.9 percent) and other electronics modules and components (43.9 percent) reported strong growth.

The precision engineering cluster contracted 1.6 percent in May year-on-year. The precision modules and components segment registering a 6.1 percent decline due to lower production of industrial rubber, metal stampings and dies, moulds, jigs and fixtures. While machinery and systems segment grew 2.3 percent on the back of higher export demand for semiconductor related equipment.

Output for the general manufacturing industries cluster declined 2.4 percent in May on a year-on-year basis. Lower output in wearing apparels, metal tanks, metal doors, windows, grilles and gratings and wooden furniture and fixtures resulted in a 5.1 percent decline in the miscellaneous industries segment. The printing segment's output also decreased 7.8 percent year-on-year, EDB said.

The transport engineering cluster fell 8.1 percent year-on-year, with all segments posting lower output. The aerospace segment declined 13.2 percent due to weak demand for engine repair jobs. Endi