On a year-on-year basis, Singapore’s manufacturing output declined 7.9% in December 2015.
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Excluding biomedical manufacturing, output fell 13%. On a seasonally adjusted month-on-month basis, manufacturing output increased 2% in December 2015. Excluding biomedical manufacturing, output fell 2.7%.
On a year-on-year basis, manufacturing output declined 7.9% in December 2015. Excluding biomedical manufacturing, output fell 13.0%. On a three-month moving average basis, manufacturing output contracted 6.7% in December 2015, compared to a year ago.
On a seasonally adjusted month-on-month basis, manufacturing output increased 2.0% in December 2015 compared to November 2015. Excluding biomedical manufacturing, output fell 2.7%. Overall, manufacturing output fell 5.2% in 2015 over 2014.
Output of the biomedical manufacturing cluster grew 16.2% in December 2015 on a year-on-year basis.
The medical technology segment grew 36.1% on the back of higher export demand for medical devices while output of the pharmaceuticals segment increased 10.4%. In 2015, output of the biomedical manufacturing cluster fell 2.6% compared to 2014.
Output of the chemicals cluster decreased 0.3% in December 2015, 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, where the latter was affected by plant maintenance shutdown. Output of the chemicals cluster rose 3.9% in 2015 compared to 2014.
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 account of lower export demand for edible oils. The printing segment also fell 8.1%.
In 2015, output of the general manufacturing cluster declined 2.0% from a year ago.
Output of the precision engineering cluster decreased 6.8% in December 2015, compared to a year ago. 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 the precision engineering 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.
Output of the transport engineering cluster declined 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. ■
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