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SINGAPORE: Singapore’s industrial production increased for the second consecutive month in September, led by a sharp increase in biomedical production and demand for pharmaceuticals amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Manufacturing output increased 24.2 percent in September from the same period last year, extending the revised 15.4 percent rebound from August, according to the Economic Development Board (EDB) on Monday (October 26) . If biomedical manufacturing is excluded, production grew 8.5 percent.
This is the second month in a row that Singapore’s industrial production has expanded, after three months of decline.
On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, manufacturing output increased 10.1 percent last month. Excluding biomedical manufacturing, production fell 1.6 percent, EDB said in the press release.
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PRODUCTION GROWED FOR BIOMEDICAL, ELECTRONIC AND CHEMICAL CLUSTERS
Production expanded in the biomedical, electronics and chemical groups, but contracted in precision engineering, general manufacturing and transportation engineering, according to EDB.
In the biomedical manufacturing group, production increased 89.8 percent in September from the same period last year, compared with a 12.2 percent increase in August. This was driven by a 113.6% increase in pharmaceutical production, due to increased production of active pharmaceutical ingredients and biologics.
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The electronics group expanded 30.1 percent last month, down from a 45.3 percent increase in August. Within the cluster, the semiconductor segment grew 37.4 percent, supported by demand for cloud services, data centers and the 5G market, EDB said.
As for the chemicals group, it was up 0.4% year-on-year in September after a 3.3% increase in August. The specialty segment grew 25.2% due to higher production of industrial gases and additives, however, the oil segments contracted 25.7% due to plant maintenance shutdowns.
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Among the groups that contracted, production in transportation engineering fell the most by 35.8% year-on-year in September.
The onshore segment grew 35.1 percent, but this was offset by declines in the marine and offshore engineering and aerospace segments, which have been affected by a weak global oil and gas market and COVID-travel restrictions. 19, respectively, EDB said.
Production also fell 1.5 percent in the precision engineering group, while production in the general manufacturing industries group contracted 8 percent amid lower demand for construction-related products and jobs. of impression.
