26-7-2023 (SINGAPORE) Singapore’s manufacturing sector faced yet another month of contraction as its output fell by 4.9 per cent in June, marking the ninth consecutive month of decline. The Economic Development Board reported that excluding biomedical manufacturing, the output declined even further, plummeting by 5.2 per cent.
Despite the overall decline, there was a glimmer of hope in the data, with manufacturing output showing a 5 per cent increase on a seasonally adjusted month-on-month basis. When excluding biomedical manufacturing, the increase was even more pronounced, rising by 6.6 per cent.
The precision engineering industry, a crucial sector in Singapore’s manufacturing landscape, experienced a sharp 11.5 per cent year-on-year drop in output in June. Within this segment, the machinery and systems category declined by 6.9 per cent due to lower production of back-end semiconductor equipment, refrigeration, and air-conditioning compressors.
Similarly, the precision modules and components segment faced a significant contraction of 24.7 per cent, primarily driven by reduced production of optical products, plastic and metal precision components, as well as dies, moulds, tools, jigs, and fixtures. Overall, the precision engineering cluster saw a decline of 7.2 per cent in the first half of 2023 compared to the same period in the previous year.
In the chemicals sector, output witnessed an 8.6 per cent decrease in June compared to the same month a year ago. Within this segment, the petroleum and specialities categories contracted by 5.5 per cent and 6.0 per cent, respectively. The petrochemicals segment, in particular, saw a steep fall of 14.8 per cent due to plant maintenance shutdowns and weak market demand.
Looking at the broader picture, the chemicals cluster’s output fell by 10.6 per cent year-to-date compared to the same period in 2022.
