SINGAPORE: Singapore’s factories likely remained on a roll in August, with industrial production expected to rise 14.2 percent from a year earlier, thanks to robust global demand for electronics, a Reuters poll showed.
On a month-on-month, seasonally adjusted basis however, industrial production is seen to have contracted by 0.4 percent, according to the median forecast of 10 analysts polled by Reuters. “It will still be largely driven by electronics,” said ANZ bank economist Weiwen Ng, adding that the outlook for the electronics sector looks bright thanks to “digitisation of processes” and launches of new phones. The city-state’s non-oil domestic exports surged in August from a year earlier at the strongest pace in six months, again led by electronics, with robust sales to China. Singapore and other Asian economies that are highly dependent on trade have gained a big boost this year from an improvement in global demand, particularly for electronics products and components such as semiconductors. While there were worries that Singapore was overly dependent on electronic exports, the economy grew faster than initially estimated in the second quarter thanks to a rebound in services, suggesting a broader and more balanced recovery after a stumble early in 2017.
