Manufacturing output declined 0.4% in January

Here’s the main drag.

According to the Department of Statistics, on a year-on-year basis, Singapore’s manufacturing output contracted 0.4% in January 2013. Excluding biomedical manufacturing, output increased 3.3%. 

On a seasonally adjusted month-on-month basis, manufacturing output declined 9.2% in January 2013. Excluding biomedical manufacturing, output fell 4.0%.

Output of the biomedical manufacturing cluster contracted 14.3% in January 2013, compared to the same period a year ago. The medical technology segment expanded 22.2%, on the back of higher export demand for medical devices.

On the other hand, pharmaceuticals output fell 20.0%, attributed to lower production of active pharmaceutical ingredients.

The general manufacturing cluster’s output increased 14.7% in January 2013 on a year-on-year basis. The miscellaneous industries and printing segments grew 25.8% and 1.2%, respectively, mainly due to the low base last year when plants shut down during the Lunar New Year period.  

Output of the precision engineering cluster was 9.1% higher year-on-year in January 2013. The precision modules & components segment expanded 14.9%, with higher production of metal precision components, electronic connectors and optical instruments & photographic equipment. 

Output of the transport engineering cluster grew 5.7% year-on-year in January 2013, with all segments posting higher output.

The land transport segment expanded 34.0%, while the marine & offshore engineering segment increased 5.0%, supported by higher output in oilfield related components.

The chemicals cluster’s output rose 2.5% on a year-on-year basis in January 2013. The other chemicals segment expanded 8.3%, on account of higher regional demand for fragrances and flavours. Output of the specialties and petrochemicals segments also grew, by 6.7% and 1.8%, respectively.

In contrast, the petroleum segment declined 5.7%, mainly due to plant shutdowns for maintenance.

The output of the electronics cluster fell 3.4% in January 2013, compared to the same period a year ago. The semiconductors segment reversed from a declining trend to record a growth of 4.3%.

However, this was more than offset by declines in the data storage (-5.1%), infocomms & consumer electronics (-11.4%) and the computer peripherals (-26.3%) segments.