Chart of the Day: Marine and offshore engineering is the weakest link in Singapore's manufacturing sector

Output tumbled by 30% in Q1.

Singapore's manufacturing sector is suffering from the persistent decline in rig-building activity and weaker demand for oilfield and gasfield equipment.

This chart from the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) shows that the transport engineering cluster remains the biggest drag on the manufacturing sector. The cluster's output contracted by 21% in the first quarter, marking the sixth consecutive quarter of decline. The contraction was mainly on back of continued weakness in the marine & offshore engineering segment, which slipped by 30% during the period.

Other manufacturing clusters are not doing so well either. Output of the precision engineering cluster dropped by 8.4%, while the chemicals cluster contracted by 2.7%. Output of the general manufacturing industries also fell by 1.5% in the first quarter.

On the bright side, output of the electronics cluster grew by 3.0%, while the output of the biomedical manufacturing cluster jumped by 19%.