Singapore
Singapore's industrial production rose for the first time in three months in June, as electronics and pharmaceutical companies increased output.
Manufacturing, which accounts for a quarter of Singapore's economy, climbed 2.5 percent from a year earlier, following a revised 13.3 percent decline in May, the Economic Development Board said today. The median forecast of 14 economists in a Bloomberg News survey had been for a 1 percent gain.
“It's a modest recovery,'' said Song Seng-Wun, an economist at CIMB-GK Securities Pte. in Singapore. “The bigger question is how much momentum the recovery will have in the second half as we see global demand moderating.''
A slowdown in the U.S., Asia's largest export market, is threatening expansion in the region as orders for Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing Ltd. chips and other goods weaken. Signs of slower economic growth in Singapore are becoming evident and there are “considerable downside risks'' for overseas shipments, the island's central bank said yesterday.
Industrial production increased a seasonally adjusted 4.5 percent in June from the previous month, after a revised 6.2 percent decline in May, today's report said. Economists were expecting a 4 percent gain.
Manufacturing fell 5.2 percent in the second quarter, less than the 5.6 percent pace reported by the government earlier this month. Overall output climbed 3.6 percent in the first half.
Pharmaceutical production climbed 5.7 percent in June from a year earlier, after decreasing a revised 58.5 percent the month before. Drugs make up around 22 percent of Singapore's manufacturing and electronics account for about 30 percent instant payday loan.
Drugs, Chips
Singapore's industrial output tends to fluctuate from month to month because of swings in production by drug companies which shut plants for cleaning before making different products.
Electronics production rose 2.7 percent last month from a year earlier, following a revised 2.4 percent gain in May. The island's electronic exports have declined for 17 straight months.
Computer-chip production in Singapore rose 1.2 percent in June, from a revised increase of 2 percent the month before. Output of consumer electronics dropped 15.8 percent.
The strength of the Singapore dollar, which has gained 5.7 percent this year, may have hurt overseas shipments “to some degree,'' Monetary Authority of Singapore Managing Director Heng Swee Keat said yesterday.
Transport engineering output, which makes up more than a 10th of total manufacturing, gained 8 percent in June from a year earlier after advancing 13 percent in May.
Singapore's marine engineering companies such as Keppel Corp. and smaller rival SembCorp Marine Ltd. have won contracts worth billions of dollars for ships and oil rigs as record crude prices spur exploration. Oil reached an unprecedented $147.27 a barrel this month.
Production at marine and offshore engineering companies climbed 12.6 percent, while aerospace-related output gained 1.8 percent last month.
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