Singapore Industrial Output Declines In September

Sponsored Links

Industrial production in Singapore dropped in September compared to the previous year after two months of growth mainly due to reduced output in the biomedical sector, an official report showed Monday.

The Economic Development Board of Singapore said industrial output fell 7.7% year-on-year in September in contrast to the 11.8% rise in the previous month and the 17.1% growth in July.

The yearly decline was mainly attributed to a drastic fall in biomedical manufacturing output. With the second largest share in overall industrial output, production in the biomedical manufacturing sector slid 13.9% in September in stark comparison to the 97.7% increase in August. Production of pharmaceuticals fell 15.2%, while output in the medical technology segment climbed 4.3%.

"Strong pharma output growth has distorted IP growth this year," ING Chief Asian Economist Tim Condon said. "But headline IP is what matters for GDP."

In September, output in the all-important electronics sector slipped 1.1%, markedly slower than the 6.4% fall in the previous month. Declines in output continued in the chemicals, precision engineering and transport engineering industries, and also at a faster pace. Production in the precision engineering sector declined 14.3% compared to the 12.1% fall last month. Transport engineering output decreased 8.1%, faster than the 5.6% drop in the preceding month, while chemicals output slumped 8.7%.

On a monthly basis, manufacturing output declined a seasonally adjusted 9.1% in September, faster than the 6% fall in the previous month. Excluding the biomedical sector, however, industrial production remained flat compared to the 0.4% drop in August. Cumulative output in the first nine months of the year was down 6.9% compared to the same period a year ago.

Meanwhile, the Department of Statistics Singapore announced last week that the consumer price index fell 0.4% on a yearly basis in September, steeper than the 0.2% drop anticipated by economists. September was the sixth straight month in which prices have fallen. Lower costs of housing, recreation and transport & communication were blamed for the faster-than-expected fall in prices.

Earlier in the month, the Ministry of Trade and Industry raised the GDP forecast for 2009. The ministry estimates the city-state economy to shrink in the range of 2.5% to 2% this year compared with 4% to 6% contraction estimated in July. Official data showed an annual growth of 0.8% for the Singapore economy during the third quarter of 2009, compared to the 3.2% contraction in the preceding quarter.

Industrial production in Singapore dropped in September compared to the previous year after two months of growth mainly due to reduced output in the biomedical sector, an official report showed Monday. (Market News Provided by RTTNews)