SINGAPORE, June 24 (Xinhua) -- Singapore's manufacturing output increased 0.9 percent year-on-year in May, said the Economic Development Board (EDB) on Friday.
The biomedical manufacturing cluster's output expanded 13.2 percent in May, compared to the same period a year ago.
Among them, the pharmaceuticals and medical technology segments grew 14.2 percent and 9.2 percent respectively, where the former's growth was due to a different mix of active pharmaceutical ingredients produced.
Strong export demand for medical devices continued to drive the growth of the medical technology segment. On a year-to-date basis, the biomedical manufacturing cluster increased 17.3 percent compared to the same period a year ago.
Output of the electronics cluster increased 5.9 percent, lifted by higher output in the semiconductors and other electronic modules & components segments.
But this was partially offset by declines in the rest of the electronic segments. Cumulatively, output of the electronics cluster grew 5.3 percent in the first five months of this year compared to the same period last year.
The chemicals cluster's output fell 0.8 percent on a year-on-year basis in May. The transport engineering cluster's output declined 17.2 percent year-on-year in May.
