2019.12.2604:44:00UTC+00Singapore Industrial Production Declines In November

Singapore industrial production declined notably in November on weak electronics and pharmaceutical output, data from the Economic Development Board showed Thursday.

Industrial production decreased 9.3 percent year-on-year in November, reversing a 3.6 percent drop in October. Economists had forecast a marginal 0.4 percent fall.

Excluding biomedical manufacturing, industrial output was down 9 percent versus a 0.3 percent fall in October.

Among clusters, the electronic cluster showed a sharp reduction of 20.9 percent annually, followed by a 10.3 percent drop in biomedical manufacturing. Chemical output dropped 10 percent and general manufacturing contracted 1.5 percent. Meanwhile, precision engineering and transport engineering grew 9.7 percent and 2.1 percent, respectively.

On a monthly basis, industrial production decreased 9.4 percent, in contrast to a 3 percent rise a month ago. Output was expected to ease 0.3 percent.