Singapore’s manufacturing output jumps 29.1% in October with big pharma boost

Singapore’s manufacturing output jumped by 29.1 per cent year-on-year in October as pharmaceuticals saw a surge in production.

Excluding biomedical manufacturing, output in October increased by 15.8 per cent, according to data released by the Economic Development Board (EDB) on Wednesday (Nov 26).

On a seasonally adjusted month-on-month basis, manufacturing output increased by 11.5 per cent, while output excluding biomedical manufacturing increased by 11.7 per cent.

The strongest performance in October came from biomedical manufacturing, which saw a 89.6 per cent hike, fuelled by a 122.9 per cent increase in the pharmaceutical segment.

This is due to the higher production of active pharmaceutical ingredients and biological products, said EDB.

Meanwhile, the medical technology segment grew 7.3 per cent due to the sustained export demand for medical devices.

Transport engineering is the next best performing cluster, which grew by 29.5 per cent year on year.

The aerospace and marine and offshore engineering segment grew by 50.6 per cent and 7 per cent respectively with the former's increase being attributed to higher production of aircraft parts and higher value maintenance, repair and overhaul jobs from commercial airlines.

Output from electronics increased by 26.9 per cent on a year-on-year basis, as the infocomms and consumer electronics segment saw a 155.6 per cent hike with higher production of sever and sever-related products.

Other segments, including the semiconductors and computer peripherals and date storage increased by 17 per cent and 0.5 per cent respectively.

Precision engineering output went up by 12.2 per cent, as it was supported by the machinery and systems segment.

Chemicals output grew by 2.2 per cent year-on-year as a hike in the specialities segment offset the decline in chemicals and petroleum as well as petrochemicals.

General manufacturing output is the only cluster which saw a drop last month with a 5.6 per cent contraction, with all segments registering declines.

The printing and miscellaneous industries saw a 3.2 per cent and 2.3 per cent dip respectively.

Food, beverages and tobacco manufacturing output fell 8.2 per cent due to lower production of milk powder, cocoa and bakery products.

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chingshijie@asiaone.com