Dismal biomedical subsector pulls the chair from under Singapore’s industrial production

Adding to a worsening manufacturing landscape.

The city-state’s industrial production has been down in the dumps lately, but its previous iterations, at least recently, has always included a bright spot in the biomedicals sector.

However, it seems like even this seemingly evergreen sector has felt the throes of a deteriorating manufacturing landscape, as OCBC reports a surprise dip in the biomedicals subsector, which was down by 1.6%.

According to the report, the surprise dip was caused by plummeting pharmaceutical production, which fell by 10.8%, dragging the overall production print lower.

Meanwhile, with no biomedical subsector to bank on, IP contracted by 5.4% in October, deeper than predictions of a 3% dip, the report said.

The deterioration was also aggravated by an expected disappointment from the electronics subsector, which fell by 14%.

“We stand firm on our expectation for manufacturing to contract by 5.4% in 4Q15, while GDP growth to print a tepid 1.3% yoy over the same period. This should bring full-year growth to 2.0%, in line with our house-view,” OCBC said.