Singapore Industrial Output Rises For Second Straight Month

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Industrial production in Singapore climbed for the second straight month on a yearly basis in August mainly due to a continued surge in biomedical output, an official report showed Friday.

The Economic Development Board of Singapore said industrial output grew 12.3% year-on-year in August, following the 17% rise in the preceding month. Economists had expected a 5% increase in output.

The yearly growth was largely attributed to an increase in biomedical manufacturing output. With the second largest share in overall industrial output, the biomedical manufacturing output surged 97.8%, mainly due to the strong performance in the pharmaceutical segment. Pharmaceutical output soared 108.1%, while output in the medical technology segment fell 7.5%.

At the same time, electronics output, having the largest share in the total, decreased 6.4% in August following the 5.9% fall in July. Declines in output continued in the precision engineering, transport engineering and general manufacturing industries, although at a slower pace. Transport engineering output dropped 2.5% compared to the 11.8% fall in the previous month. Precision engineering output decreased 12.7%, slower than the 16.2% slide in July, while output from general manufacturing industries was down 4.2%.

On a monthly basis, industrial output was down a seasonally adjusted 5.6% in August, in contrast to the upwardly revised 25.7% rise in the previous month, with the decline smaller than the 6.4% decline expected by economists. Cumulative industrial output in the first eight months of 2009 contracted by 6.7% compared to the corresponding period of the preceding year.

Earlier in the week, the Department of Statistics announced that consumer prices in Singapore dropped for a fifth consecutive month in August, reflecting lower costs of housing, recreation as well as transport and communication. The consumer price index was down 0.3% year-on-year, slower than the 0.5% fall seen in the preceding two months.

Meanwhile, the Asian Development Bank in a report Tuesday said developing Asian economies were poised to lead the global economic recovery, proving to be more resilient than originally thought. Moreover, the bank also raised its growth forecast for the region. The lender expects a V-shaped rebound for the regional economy.

The latest update of Asian Development Outlook 2009 projects developing Asian economies, which exclude Japan, to grow 3.9% this year, faster than the 3.4% growth estimated earlier. Further, it revised upwards its growth forecast for the next year to 6.4% from the 6% growth estimated earlier. The Manila-based bank expects Singapore's GDP to shrink 5% this year, but to return to growth next year, estimating growth of 3.5% for the year.

Industrial production in Singapore climbed for the second straight month on a yearly basis in August mainly due to a continued surge in biomedical output, an official report showed Friday. (Market News Provided by RTTNews)