SINGAPORE, Oct. 26 (Xinhua) -- Singapore's manufacturing output increased 6.7 percent in September on a year-on-year basis, said the country's Economic Development Board (EDB) on Wednesday.
Excluding biomedical manufacturing, output grew 3.5 percent year-on-year, said EDB in the press release. On a seasonally adjusted month-on-month basis, manufacturing output rose 3.3 percent in September. Excluding biomedical manufacturing, output grew 0.9 percent.
As for performance by cluster, the biomedical manufacturing cluster's output increased 22.2 percent in September compared to the same period a year ago.
EDB said pharmaceutical segment expanded 26.9 percent due to higher production of active pharmaceutical ingredients and biological products, while the medical technological segment rose 9.6 percent with higher export demand for medical instruments.
Output of electronics cluster increased 15.9 percent in September year-on-year. The semiconductors segment grew 34.8 percent, but this was partially offset by declines in the rest of the electronic segments, according to EDB.
The general manufacturing industries cluster's output in September increased 5.6 percent year-on-year. Food, beverages and tobacco segment posted an increase in output of 30.7 percent, while miscellaneous industries segment contracted 7.7 percent and printing segment shrank 22.3 percent.
Output of the precision engineering cluster registered a 5.4 percent increase year-on-year in September. The machinery and systems segment grew 9.8 percent, while the precision modules and components segment contracted 1.2 percent.
On the contrary, the transport engineering cluster's output contracted 18.9 percent year-on-year in September.
EDB said the decline was largely attributed to the marine and offshore engineering segment, which declined by 31.5 percent, as rig-building activities and demand for oilfield and gasfield equipment remained weak amidst the low oil price environment.
EDB said the output of chemicals cluster remained unchanged year-on-year in September. The petroleum and specialties segments registered grew 6.8 percent and 1.2 percent respectively. On the other hand, the output of petrochemicals and other segments contracted 0.3 percent and 1.3 percent.
