2023.03.2406:57:00UTC+00Singapore Industrial Production Plunges 8.9%

Singapore's industrial production declined for the fifth straight month in February, largely due to a slump in bio-medical manufacturing and chemical output, according to data from the Economic Development Board revealed on Friday.

Industrial production fell 8.9 percent year-on-year in February, which was worse than the 3.1 percent fall in January. Economists had expected a decrease of 1.9 percent.

Excluding bio-medical manufacturing, industrial production slid 4.9 percent annually in February, after a 7.1 percent fall in the previous month.

On a monthly basis, industrial production declined sharply by 11.7 percent in February, much faster than the 0.4 percent drop in the prior month.

Among major clusters, production in the bio-medical manufacturing industries fell the most, by 33.6 percent annually in February amid a marked decline in output of the pharmaceuticals segment.

The chemical cluster logged a contraction in output of 14.9 percent, as output of the specialties segment dipped 8.0 percent due to lower production of mineral oil and food additives.

There was a 10.0 percent fall in electronics output in February compared to last year.

At the same time, the transport engineering cluster surged 22.9 percent, and that of precision engineering rose 4.9 percent.