Manufacturing output rebounds with 2.9% rise in May

Electronics jumped 20% YoY.

Singapore’s manufacturing output surprised with a 2.9% YoY increase in May, rebounding from a 1.2% drop in April thanks to the strong performance of the electronics sector.

Data from the Economic Development Board (EDB) on Wednesday showed manufacturing output was still down 0.8% YoY for the January to May period, despite last month’s rebound.

Excluding biomedical manufacturing, which contracted 42.6% YoY, the output would have risen by 10.1% YoY, according to the EDB

Electronics did most of the heavy lifting with the sector’s output recording a 20% YoY jump last month on the back of rising orders. The strong showing was mainly from the electronics modules and components (30.2%), computer peripherals and data storage (24.9%), and the semiconductors and consumer electronics (20.6%) segments.

In the five months through May, electronics output was up 0.7% YoY.

The chemicals segment went up 7.9% YoY mainly due to the double-digit growth in petroleum and petrochemicals. Year to date, the output of the chemicals cluster was up 6.1% YoY.

General manufacturing declined 4.4% last month as the small uptick in food, beverages and tobacco (0.3%) was more than offset by weak output in animal feds, printing and miscellaneous industries. General manufacturing output was down 1.1% for the January-May period.

Weakness in biomedical manufacturing persisted throughout the first five months of 2024, contracting by 24.5% YoY.