According to Singapore manufacturing gloom continues in January as output shrinks for 4th straight month | The Straits Times, according to data issued by the Economic Development Board on Friday, Singapore's manufacturing sector unexpectedly contracted in January as production decreased 2.7% compared to the same month last year. After three months of shrinkage, 0.8% increase was predicted by analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.
Manufacturing output declined 6.3% in January when biomedical manufacturing was taken out. The important electronics industry's 4.2% gain in December was reversed, falling 2.9% in January. The manufacturing industry in Singapore is 40% export-driven, making electronics essential to the country's economic expansion.
While the computer peripherals and data storage section for electronics expanded by 2.5%, decreasing demand affected the other segments. Information and communications technology and consumer electronics saw a 27.5 percent decline in output, while other electronic modules and components saw a 25 percent decline as a result of weaker demand.
The manufacturing of semiconductors decreased by 1.5% in January, continuing a downward trend. Output in the biomedical manufacturing sector increased by 23.2% year over year, the largest among all the sectors.
Due to a different mixture of active pharmaceutical components being manufactured than a year previously, the pharmaceuticals segment's output grew by 37.5%. According to the research, the medical technology sector expanded by 3.8% as a result of increased export demand from the US and Europe.
Transport engineering was another industry that expanded in January, with output rising 4.7% year over year. Due to increased activity at the shipyard and higher output of equipment for oil and gas fields, the marine and offshore engineering segment grew by 29.2%. However, the land and aerospace sectors experienced declines of 2.8% and 20.8%, respectively, with the latter segment registering a decline in the demand for automobile parts and accessories abroad.
The production of general manufacturing fell the most in January compared to the same month last year, by 18.3%, in part because of the Chinese New Year vacations.
The output of precision engineering fell by 11.1%, while that of chemicals fell by 13%.
