Chart of the Day: Here’s solid proof that Singapore’s manufacturing is down in the dumps

Nothing but gloom and doom for the sector.

Singapore’s once vibrant manufacturing sector is now down, and so are the heads of business owners.

With recovery shaping up to be a pipe dream, more business owners are all but losing hope in the sector, according to a report by Maybank Kim Eng.

Maybank Kim Eng says business sentiment had been crumbling in the sector, with 68% of those surveyed by the Singapore Economic Development Board expecting less than favorable business outlook in the next six months.

Less than a quarter (21%) showed glimpses of optimism for the embattled sector.

“The survey highlighted pessimism about ‘New Orders Received’ (3Q 2015: -26; 2Q 2015: -3) and ‘Deliveries Overseas’ (3Q 2015: -7; 2Q 2015: +1),” Maybank Kim Eng said.

Meanwhile, in terms of industries, the weaker outlook is led by ‘Petroleum’ ( -63), ‘Semiconductors’ ( -60) and ‘Marine & Offshore Engineering’ ( -31), due to concerns over China’s slowdown and the effect of weak crude oil and commodity prices.

Expectedly, the marine and offshore engineering outlook was weighed down by the decline of offshore exploration and drilling activities.

“There were also continued concerns about the lackluster outlook in the global electronics segment while the chemicals cluster sentiment was weighed down by expectations of excess supply of refined petroleum and chemical products in the region,” Maybank Kim Eng said.