Manufacturing output down 2.4% in May

The chemicals, precision engineering and electronics industries led the decline.

Manufacturing output fell 2.4% YoY, or 0.7% MoM, in May, according to the Economic Development Board.

Excluding biomedical manufacturing, manufacturing output fell 4.9% YoY and fell 2.1% on a three-month moving average basis.

This was attributed to declines in chemicals, precision engineering and electronics industries.

The electronics segment saw the worst performance as output fell 10.8% YoY in May. Infocomms & consumer electronics and other electronic modules & components segments grew 6.2% and 0.8% respectively, whilst the rest of the electronic segments contracted. Cumulatively, the electronics cluster’s output fell 4.5% YoY in the first five months of 2019.

Precision engineering output was down 4.7% YoY after its machinery & systems segment declined 16.6%. The precision modules & components segment grew 17.1%.

Meanwhile, chemicals output dipped 0.4% YoY even as chemicals, specialties and petroleum segments rose 5.1%, 4.3% and 1.6%, respectively. This was offset by a 9.5% decline in the petrochemicals segment.

Countering the manufacturing output’s decline, biomedical manufacturing output climbed 8.8% YoY. Its pharmaceuticals output expanded 15.9% whilst the medical technology segment contracted 6.8%, on the back of lower export demand for medical devices.

General manufacturing output also rose 4.9% YoY, as the food, beverages & tobacco segment grew 9.3% and its miscellaneous industries segment was up 3%. The printing segment declined 9.1%.

Lastly, transport engineering output grew 2.9%, after the aerospace and land transport segments rose 17.2% and 0.6% respectively. On the other hand, the marine & offshore engineering segment fell 10.9%, recording lower levels of offshore and shipbuilding & repairing activities.

The people you want to reach are already in this room.

Every quarter, SBR lands on the desks of the founders, CFOs, and directors running Asia's most consequential companies. Every day, they open our newsletter and read our website. It's a room that took twenty years to build — and it's the one most of our partners are trying to get into.
The good news is that the door is open. We work with companies on thought leadership articles, sponsored content, industry summits across Southeast Asia, regional awards programmes, podcasts, and media placements in print and digital. The shape of the right partnership depends on what you're trying to do, which is why we'd rather start with a conversation than send a rate card.
If you have something this room should know about, tell us. We'll tell you honestly whether we can help, and how.

No rate cards until we understand the brief. It's a better use of everyone's time.

Book a meeting

| Or download the media kit (PDF)

240,000 senior readers quarterly in print Top 1,700 Singapore companies reached

7 markets across Southeast Asia