The manufacturing production of Singapore fell 7.9% in December 2015 on a yearly basis, the 11th straight month of decline, as most clusters, except biomedical manufacturing, posted decreases. Excluding biomedical manufacturing, manufacturing output fell 13% year-on-year, said the country’s Economic Development Board (EDB).
On a three-month moving average basis, manufacturing output contracted 6.7% in December 2015 compared to a year ago. On a month-on-month basis, it rose 2% compared with the previous month. Excluding biomedical manufacturing, the output fell 2.7%.
Overall, manufacturing output fell 5.2% in 2015 in comparison with 2014.
By cluster, output of the biomedical manufacturing cluster grew 16.2% in December 2015 year-on-year, the only group to record growth. Among the segments in this cluster, medical technology grew 36.1% on the back of higher export demand, while output of the pharmaceuticals segment increased 10.4%. In 2015, however, output of the biomedical manufacturing cluster fell 2.6% compared to 2014.
The chemicals cluster posted the least decrease in output, contracting by 0.3% in December compared to a year ago. The petroleum and specialties segments grew 17.6% and 7.5%, respectively,but this was offset by declines in the other chemicals (-9.6%) and petrochemicals (-12.7%) segments. Output of the chemicals cluster rose 3.9% in 2015 as a whole, according to EDB.
The general manufacturing cluster’s output decreased 5.3% year-on-year in December 2015. The miscellaneous industries segment’s output contracted 4.3% with lower output in metal tanks & containers, batteries and wearing apparels, while the food, beverages & tobacco segment declined 5.8% on lower export demand for edible oils. The printing segment also fell 8.1%. In 2015, output of the general manufacturing cluster declined 2% from a year ago.
Output of the precision engineering cluster decreased 6.8% in December 2015 year-on-year. The machinery & systems segment fell 2.5% due to lower demand for back-end semiconductor equipment, lifting & hoisting equipment, and refrigerating systems. The precision modules & components segment declined 12.4% on the back of lower production of optical instruments, industrial rubber, metal precision components, and wire & cable products. Output of this cluster decreased 4.1% in 2015, compared to 2014.
The electronics cluster’s output fell 12.4% in December 2015 on a year-on-year basis. The other electronic modules & components segment grew 52.4% while the rest of the electronics segments registered output declines. For the whole of 2015, the electronics cluster’s output was 6.8% lower than in 2014.
The transport engineering cluster logged the biggest deceleration in output, falling 26.4% on a year-on-year basis in December 2015. The aerospace and land transport segments recorded increases of 15.4% and 6.1% respectively. However, this was offset by the marine & offshore engineering segment, which declined 40.3%, on account of a lower level of rig-building activity and weaker demand for oilfield & gasfield equipment amidst the low oil price environment. For the whole of 2015, the transport engineering cluster’s output was 13.5% lower than in 2014.
Photo: ArnoldReinhold
