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Pharmaceuticals drag down Singapore factory output: govt
A sharp drop in pharmaceuticals production pulled down Singapore's manufacturing sector as overall output shrank 8.2 percent in November from a year ago, government data showed on Thursday.
A sharp drop in pharmaceuticals production pulled down Singapore's manufacturing sector as overall output shrank 8.2 per cent in November from a year ago, government data showed on Thursday.
On a seasonally adjusted month-on-month basis, the sector's output fell 3.6 per cent, the Economic Development Board (EDB) said in its monthly report.
Excluding the biomedicals industry, which includes pharmaceuticals, manufacturing output actually increased 7.4 per cent from a year ago, the EDB said.
Analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires were expecting an average 3.3 per cent rise in output from the manufacturing sector, a key pillar of Singapore's trade-oriented economy.
The monthly data is a barometer of how Singapore's economy is doing as the bulk of output from the sector is shipped out either as final goods or as components to foreign factories. Biomedical output declined 48.8 per cent from a year ago, triggered by the 52.5 per cent drop in pharmaceuticals production, the EDB data showed.
Pharmaceutical output is usually volatile with huge swings in production levels because the plants are routinely closed for maintenance while output targets can vary due to different products being made.
Transport engineering was the other industry that also contracted in November with production down 19.8 per cent on the year.
On the bright side, electronics expanded 17.5 per cent, boosted by a 34.2 per cent jump in semiconductors output, the EDB report said.
For the remaining industries, precision engineering expanded 5.8 per cent and chemicals increased 16.5 per cent, it said.
Singapore said in November its economy had emerged from a recession that began in the third quarter of 2008 after the global economic downturn hit demand for its exports.
The government said it expects the economy to shrink 2.0-2.5 per cent this year and rebound in 2010 with growth of 3.0-5.0 per cent.
