Highlights

• On a seasonally adjusted month-on-month basis, total manufacturing output increased by 24.7% in April 09
• On a year-on-year basis, manufacturing output declined by 0.5% in April 2009.

(I) Total Manufacturing Performance
1.  Manufacturing output expanded by 24.7% in April 2009 on a seasonally adjusted month-on-month basis. Compared to a year ago, manufacturing output posted a dip of 0.5% in April 2009. On a three-month moving average basis, total manufacturing output in April 2009 fell 16.7% compared to the same period last year. For the first four months of 2009, total manufacturing output contracted by 19.1%.

(II) Performance by cluster
2.  The biomedical manufacturing cluster expanded by 68.4% year-on-year in April 2009. Output of the pharmaceutical segment jumped 77.9% due to a greater variety of active pharmaceutical ingredients produced and higher production of existing products. The production of medical technology products shrank 10.0% due to fewer overseas orders. Cumulatively, the cluster’s output in the first four months of 2009 declined 9.1% compared to the same period in 2008.

3.  Output of the transport engineering cluster was 14.8% higher than in April last year. Both the marine & offshore engineering and aerospace engineering segments increased output by 29.8% and 7.5% respectively. Shipyards completed more stages in their existing contracts for new ships, ship conversion and ship repairing. The aerospace segment continued to work on existing contracts from the Asia Pacific region. The land transport segment shrank 46.1% due to weak demand from Europe. On a year-to-date basis, output of the cluster rose by 8.8%.

4.   The general manufacturing industries contracted by 10.2% in April 2009. There was lower output in the printing and food & beverages industries as demand remained weak. Cumulative output in the first four months of 2009 shrank 10.9% compared to the same period in 2008.

5.  Output of the chemicals cluster declined by 21.6% year-on-year in April 2009. All segments recorded lower production. In particular, the petroleum and petrochemicals segments had lower output due to some unplanned shutdowns during the month. The chemicals cluster contracted 22.5% year-on-year in the first four months of 2009.

6.  The electronics cluster recorded a smaller decline of 24.2% year-on-year in April 2009 compared to the past three months. Though year-on-year declines were recorded in all segments, some segments recorded higher output in April over March this year. For the first four months of 2009, the electronics cluster contracted by 35.3% compared to the same period in 2008.

7.  The precision engineering cluster shrank 25.7% in April 2009 compared to a year ago. The machinery & systems and precision modules & components segments recorded declines of 20.6% and 29.9% respectively. The cluster’s output from January to April 2009 was 27.9% lower than the level produced in the same period last year. 

8.  The next monthly manufacturing performance media release will be issued on 26th June 2009.

Editors’ Note:

Updates on Monthly Manufacturing Output are available on
http://www.news.gov.sg and http://www.sedb.com

For media enquiries, please contact

Mr Alex Tan

(Tel: 68326284 / Handphone: 98410392 / Email: alex_tan@edb.gov.sg)

For further information, please contact

Ms Kok Yit Hoe

(Tel: 68326741 / Handphone : 98416281 / Email: yithoe@edb.gov.sg)