On a year-on-year basis, manufacturing output increased 7.4% in July 2011. Excluding biomedical manufacturing, output declined 6.9%. On a three-month moving average basis, manufacturing output in July 2011 declined 0.4% compared to the same period in 2010. On a seasonally adjusted month-on-month basis, manufacturing output rose 0.3% in July 2011. Excluding biomedical manufacturing, output declined 5.6%.

Output of the biomedical manufacturing cluster grew 46.8% in July 2011 year-on-year. Pharmaceuticals output rose 47.7% in July mainly due to different mix of active pharmaceutical ingredients being produced. The medical technology segment’s output also expanded by 24.2% in July, partly due to the low base last year when production of medical instruments was low. On a year-to-date basis, the biomedical output increased by 4.1% compared to the same period a year ago.

The output of the precision engineering cluster grew 7.1% year-on-year in July 2011. The machinery & systems segment recorded higher output of air-conditioning equipment, machine tools and semiconductor related equipment. On the other hand, the precision modules & components segment's output declined 4.7% with lower production of electronic connectors and plastic precision components. On a year-to-date basis, the output of the precision engineering cluster was 24.5% higher than the same period a year ago.

The chemicals cluster's output grew 5.4% year-on-year in July 2011. Within the cluster, the specialties segment posted the strongest gain of 17.5% on the back of new production capacities which started earlier this year. In contrast, the petrochemicals and other chemicals segments fell 3.7% and 6.3% respectively due to plant shutdowns for maintenance and inspection. Cumulatively, output of the chemicals cluster grew 8.4% from January to July 2011, compared to the same period a year ago. 

Output of the transport engineering cluster rose 1.2% year-on-year in July 2011. The land transport segment recorded an output gain of 24.0%, followed by the aerospace segment which expanded by 7.2%. However, growth in the cluster was partially offset by declines in the marine and offshore engineering segment due to a lower volume of work in the shipyards. Cumulatively, output of the cluster grew 5.8% in the first seven months of 2011, compared to the same period last year.

The general manufacturing cluster's output declined by 9.2% year-on-year in July 2011, with all segments within the cluster registering lower output. The food, beverages & tobacco and printing segments declined by 0.9% and 2.8% respectively, while the miscellaneous segment's output shrank 13.3% with lower production of secondary batteries, wooden furniture and structural metal products. On a year-to-date basis, output of the cluster was 2.2% lower than the same period last year.

Output of the electronics cluster declined by 18.2% in July 2011 compared to July 2010. Apart from the infocomms & consumer electronics segment, the rest of the electronics segments contracted in July due to weaker global demand for electronics. For the first seven months of 2011, electronics output declined by 1.5% compared to the same period a year ago.

The next monthly manufacturing performance media release will be issued on 26th September 2011.

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 
Ms Karen Lin 
(Tel: 68326587/ Handphone: 96230355/ Email: karen_lin@edb.gov.sg)

For further information, please contact 
Mr Chong Tse Ming 
(Tel 68326677/ Handphone: 91547959/ Email: quin_chong@edb.gov.sg)