Electronics lifts manufacturing output by 10.1% despite chemicals slump

The cluster grew 30% YoY on the back of semiconductors and AI-related demand.

Manufacturing output increased 10.1% year-on-year (YoY) in March, according to data from the Singapore Economic Development Board.

Excluding biomedical manufacturing, output increased 13.5%.

On a seasonally adjusted month-on-month basis, manufacturing output grew 4.7% during the period. Excluding biomedical manufacturing, output increased 3.5%.

The electronics cluster rose 30% YoY, with growth attributed to infocomms, consumer electronics and semiconductors segments due to strong artificial intelligence-related demand.

Meanwhile, precision engineering grew 14%, whilst general manufacturing and transport engineering saw a 7.6% and 2% increase, respectively.

However, biomedical manufacturing declined by 14.3% amidst softer demand for medical devices and a shift in production mix toward active pharmaceutical ingredients.

Chemicals also decreased 16%, on account of lower output in the petroleum and petrochemicals segments, due to disruptions in feedstock supply.