Posted on 27 Dec 2007
Last month's 1.5 percent decline in manufacturing output, compared with a year earlier, was at the low end of analysts' forecasts for a contraction of between 1.0 and 5.3 percent.
On a seasonally adjusted month-on-month basis, production was up 5.8 percent from October, the Economic Development Board said.
The annual 1.5 percent drop was caused mainly by a 33.4 percent contraction in the biomedical sector which, alongside electronics, has emerged as a key pillar for manufacturing.
Made up of pharmaceuticals and medical technology products, the biomedical sector was weighed down by a 35.6 percent fall in drug output and a 15.0 percent drop in medical-related production, the board said.
Lower production of certain key drug ingredients was to blame for the sharp drop in pharmaceutical activity last month, it added.
Other industries that contracted last month included precision engineering, which fell 0.3 percent, and general manufacturing industries which eased 0.2 percent, the board said.
In the other manufacturing sectors, electronic output rose 5.3 percent, chemicals was up 3.4 percent and transport engineering expanded 31.9 percent, boosted by the booming marine and offshore engineering cluster which grew 53.5 percent.
"Shipyards continued to be occupied with existing contracts for ship repairing, shipbuilding, ship conversion and fabrication of oil rigs," the board said of the marine and offshore engineering cluster.
Manufacturing is a closely-watched indicator of the
