Highlights

• On a seasonally adjusted month-on-month basis, Singapore manufacturing output declined by 5.6% in August 2009. Excluding biomedical manufacturing, output increased 0.2% in August over July 2009.
  
  
• On a year-on-year basis, manufacturing output increased 12.3% in August 2009. Output contracted 6.1% if biomedical manufacturing was excluded.

(I) Total Manufacturing Performance
1.  Manufacturing output declined by 5.6% in August 2009 on a seasonally adjusted month-on-month basis. Excluding biomedical manufacturing, output increased 0.2%. On a year-on-year basis, manufacturing output rose 12.3% in August 2009, with the significant gains made by the biomedical manufacturing cluster offsetting contraction in other clusters. Excluding biomedical manufacturing, output declined 6.1%. On a three-month moving average basis, total manufacturing output in August 2009 increased 7.1% compared to the corresponding period last year. Cumulative output in the first eight months of 2009 contracted by 6.7% compared to the same period in 2008.

(II) Performance by cluster
2.  The output in the biomedical manufacturing cluster grew 97.8% year-on-year in August 2009, lifted by the 108.1% increase in the pharmaceuticals segment. The medical technology segment contracted 7.5% in August 2009. Cumulative output of the biomedical manufacturing cluster from January to August 2009 increased by 28.9% compared to the same period in 2008. 

3.  The output of the transport engineering cluster shrank 2.5% in August 2009 compared with the same month last year. The land transport segment registered positive growth of 25.4% in August while the marine & offshore engineering and aerospace segments declined by 1.8% and 7.0% respectively. Cumulative output of the transport engineering cluster edged down 0.2% in the first eight months of the year compared to the same period in 2008.

4.  Output for the general manufacturing industries contracted by 4.2% year-on-year in August 2009. Within the cluster, the miscellaneous industries segment increased 1.3% while the food, beverages & tobacco and printing segments contracted by 6.6% and 13.3% respectively. Cumulative output in the first eight months of 2009 fell 7.1% compared to the same period in 2008. 

5.  The chemicals cluster output declined 4.5% year-on-year in August 2009. The petrochemicals segment was 15.4% higher in August mainly due to the low base last year when there were major scheduled maintenance shutdowns in some petrochemicals plants. The petroleum segment fell 16.4% as refineries continued to have weak refining margins, causing them to cut back on throughput. The chemicals cluster contracted 15.6% on a year-to-date basis.

6.  The electronics cluster’s output contracted by 6.4% year-on-year in August 2009. The computer peripherals segment expanded 32.1% in August due to a surge in demand for certain computer related products. The semiconductors segment continued to see a moderation in decline as it contracted 7.6% in August. For the first eight months of 2009, the electronics cluster contracted 23.8% compared to the same period in 2008.

7.  The output of the precision engineering cluster shrank 12.7% in August 2009 compared to the same period a year ago. The machinery & systems segment saw a moderation in decline in August as the segment contracted 8.2%. There was a pickup in demand for equipment both locally and overseas in recent months. Demand for the precision modules & components segment remained weak, as output shrank 16.3% in August. The cluster’s output from January to August 2009 was 22.2% lower than the output level in the same period last year. 

8.  The next monthly manufacturing performance media release will be issued on 26th October 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 
Mr Chong Tse Ming 
(Tel 68326677 / Handphone: 91484194 / Email quin_chong@edb.gov.sg)