Singapore factory output rises 10.6% in December

Analysts see continued growth in the short term amid demand for electronics exports

- Timothy Goh

Singapore’s factory production rose for a sixth straight month in December, and analysts said they expect growth to continue, at least for the next few months, on the back of resilient demand for key electronics exports.

Total output expanded 10.6 per cent year on year, after an upwardly revised 10.8 per cent increase in November and a modest 1.2 per cent rise in October.

It beat the 6.2 per cent growth forecast made by analysts in a Bloomberg poll.

Excluding the more volatile bio-medical industry, output also increased 10.6 per cent, according to data from the Economic Development Board on Jan 24.

On a seasonally adjusted month-on-month basis, production decreased 0.7 per cent. Excluding biomedical manufacturing, it dropped 5.3 per cent.

The electronics industry, which accounts for nearly half of Singa-pore’s manufacturing output, saw an increase of 14.3 per cent year on year, lower than the revised 31.3 per cent rise in November.

Within the cluster, semiconductor production grew 11.4 per cent. Other electronic modules and components fell 9.2 per cent, but computer peripherals and data storage expanded 27.1 per cent, and infocomms and consumer electronics surged 41.2 per cent.