Singapore's manufacturing output jumped 3.6% in July

That's excluding biomedical output.

According to a release by the Department of Statistics, excluding biomedical manufacturing, output grew 3.6%. On a three-month moving average basis, manufacturing output increased 0.3% in July 2013, compared to a year ago.

On a year-on-year basis, manufacturing output increased 2.7% in July 2013.

On a seasonally adjusted month-on-month basis, manufacturing output contracted 1.9% in July 2013. Excluding biomedical manufacturing, output fell 0.1%.

Performance by cluster

Output of the transport engineering cluster increased 13.9% year-on-year in July 2013. The marine & offshore engineering segment posted a strong gain of 19.0%, as a result of higher contributions from rig building and ship conversion projects.

The general manufacturing cluster’s output rose 5.4% in July 2013, compared to a year ago. Growth of the miscellaneous industries segment (13.0%) more than offset the declines in the food, beverages & tobacco (-1.2%) and printing (-2.7%) segments.

Output of the electronics cluster rose 3.5% in July 2013, compared to the same period a year ago.

The chemicals cluster’s output fell 0.3% year-on-year in July 2013. The petrochemicals segment expanded 4.9%, supported by new production capacities.

Output of the biomedical manufacturing cluster fell 1.3% in July 2013 on a year-on-year basis. Robust growth in the medical technology segment (16.3%) was more than offset by weak pharmaceuticals output, which contracted 4.4%.

Output of the precision engineering cluster declined 7.4% year-on-year in July 2013, with both segments recording lower output.

Cumulatively, output of the precision engineering cluster shrank 9.7% year-on-year in the first seven months of this year.