SINGAPORE (AFP) — Singapore's factory output rose 16.9 percent in March from a year earlier, powered by stronger production of pharmaceuticals, the government said Friday.
The performance beat economists' average forecast of 11 percent output growth in Southeast Asia's most advanced economy.
Production in the biomedicals sector, which covers pharmaceuticals and medical technology equipment, climbed 98.1 percent compared with the same month last year, the Economic Development Board (EDB) said.
Drug manufacturers raised output by 108.4 percent as they produced a greater variety of active pharmaceutical ingredients, EDB said in a statement.
The month-on-month seasonally adjusted index for March fell 0.6 percent from February.
For the three months to March, total output jumped 12.4 percent over the same period in 2007, EDB said.
Output for the key electronics cluster fell 4.1 percent in March after growing 13.6 percent in February.
Production was weighed down by a decline in the manufacture of semiconductors and consumer electronics, partly because global demand eased, EDB said.
The fabrication of oil drilling rigs slowed in March but the manufacture of oilfield-related equipment rose, helping the marine and offshore engineering segment expand 13.3 percent. That was slower than the 16.2 percent recorded in February, data showed.
Output for the aerospace segment shrank 2.2 percent due to the lower number of repairs for bigger commercial aircraft, the EDB said.
Overall, output for the transport engineering sector, which covers both offshore and marine and aerospace, grew 6.7 percent.
Production in the chemicals cluster dipped 3.0 percent, partly because of the shutdown of some petrochemical plants for maintenance, it said.
Figures for March are preliminary.
The release of the manufacturing output data followed a government report this month showing that Singapore's key non-oil domestic exports fell 5.9 percent in March as shipments to major trading partner the United States slumped further.
Singapore's economy expanded 7.7 percent in 2007 but the trade ministry foresees a slower pace of 4.0-6.0 percent this year because of increased risks from the slowdown in the US, a major buyer of the country's exports.
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