Singapore's industrial sector performed better than expected in November with output up 22.4% from a year ago on stronger orders for pharmaceuticals and oil
rigs, according to official figures released Dec. 27.
On a month-on-month basis, November output grew 1.5% in the sector which is a key pillar of the city-state's economy. For the first 11 months of 2005, production expanded almost 10% from the same period in 2004, the Economic Development Board (EDB) said. "Manufacturing output continued its upward trend in November 2005," the EDB said.
The biomedical industry, made up of pharmaceuticals and medical technology, was the star performer last month with a 49.3% year-on-year rise. Pharmaceuticals expanded by 57.2%, boosted by production of drug ingredients to meet deliveries in the U.S. and Europe. If the biomedical industry were excluded, manufacturing output would only have risen by 17.1% in November.
For electronics, which makes up one-third of industrial output, production rose almost 20% last month due to robust demand for semiconductors, computer peripherals and data storage products. Output from transport engineering industry surged 38.4% in November, driven by a 52.2% jump in the marine and offshore engineering segment. For the rest of the manufacturing sector, chemicals production was up 1.5%, precision engineering grew 16% and general manufacturing expanded 3.6%, the EDB's preliminary figures showed.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2005
