SINGAPORE: Electronics output which surged 33.2% powered up total output. Singapore’s total manufacturing output in September rose by 14.6% YoY, bringing manufacturing growth to 18.4% in Q3. According to the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB), the electronics cluster’s output surged 33% YoY, breaking the record level in December 2016. Semiconductors, computer peripherals and other electronic modules & components segments led the growth for the cluster, whilst infocomms & consumer electronics and data storage segments’ output fell. The output of the precision engineering cluster grew 15.4% YoY in September 2017, led by a 24.5% YoY growth in the precision modules & components segment. The chemicals clusters’ output also grew by 9.5% YoY as all segments increased.
Singapore’s biomedical cluster expanded by 8% thanks to pharmaceuticals and medical technology. The output of the general manufacturing industries increased 4.3%. Out of all the clusters, only transport engineering dragged the growth and fell by 11%. The decline was driven by land transport and marine & offshore, which offset the rise in aerospace.