Singapore's manufacturing output rose by 15.4 per cent year-on-year in August, driven mainly by growth in the electronics, precision engineering, transport engineering and general manufacturing clusters.

Excluding biomedical manufacturing, output in August increased by 17 per cent, improving upon the 8.2 per cent growth in July, according to official data from the Economic Development Board (EDB) released on Monday (Sept 28).

On a seasonally-adjusted month-on-month basis, manufacturing output decreased 0.5 per cent, falling from the 2.3 per cent in July, while output excluding biomedical manufacturing rose by 5.8 per cent.

Growth in all clusters, except chemicals

EDB data also showed that all clusters recorded growth on a year-on-year basis in August, except chemicals.

Electronics grew 28.5 per cent, supported by strong production of servers and related products, semiconductors and data storage products amid robust artificial intelligence-related demand.

Meanwhile, precision engineering grew 33.9 per cent, led mainly by higher production of semiconductor equipment in the machinery and systems segment.

The transport engineering, general manufacturing and biomedical manufacturing sectors grew by 9.5 per cent, 1.5 per cent and 0.4 per cent respectively.

On the 12.7 per cent decline in chemicals, EDB said this was weighed down by the petroleum and petrochemicals segments.

It pointed out that petroleum output was affected by plant maintenance while petrochemicals production continued to be constrained by softer demand and feedstock supply disruptions.

However, the specialities segment recorded output growth, on account of higher production of industrial gases and food additives.

The next monthly manufacturing performance will be released on Oct 26.

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editor@asiaone.com