Manufacturing: Output falls again in Feb

8.9% year-on-year drop in Feb worse than expected by analysts; biomedicals worst hit

- Clara Chong

Singapore's manufacturing recession worsened in February as production shrank for a fifth straight month, according to data released by the Economic Development Board on Friday.

Factory output slumped 8.9 per cent year on year in February, after falling a downwardly revised 3.1 per cent in January.

February's contraction was worse than the 1.8 per cent fall year on year expected by analysts in a Bloomberg poll.

This marked the fifth straight month of year-on-year decline and the worst streak since 2015, said UOB senior economist Alvin Liew.

Excluding the volatile biomedical manufacturing segment, output fell 4.9 per cent.

Biomedical manufacturing was the hardest hit, with output tumbling 33.6 per cent in February on a year-on-year basis.

Mr Liew said that even if the volatility brought by the biomedical manufacturing component was excluded, the latest numbers continue to affirm UOB's downbeat manufacturing outlook.