SINGAPORE, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Singapore's Economic
Development Board (EDB) on Tuesday released the following
industrial production data for January:
(change in percentage terms)
Jan Dec* Nov* Oct* Sep* Aug* Jul*
m/m s/adj -9.2 6.6 1.4 0.9 -1.9 -2.5 -7.5
y/y -0.4 1.3 2.8 -5.1 -3.5 -2.8 2.3
Excluding Biomedical
Jan Dec* Nov*
m/m s/adj -4.0 2.7 0.2
y/y 3.3 -2.8 0.6
* revised
CONTEXT
- The fall in output in January was a surprise, as
economists polled by Reuters had a median forecast for
year-on-year growth of 4.0 percent and month-on-month growth of
2.8 percent after seasonal adjustment.
- One reason year-on-year growth had been expected for
January was that in 2012, the Lunar New Year holiday started on
Jan. 23. This year, the holiday began Feb. 10, so there was no
holiday-break impact on January.
- The biggest contributor to January's annual fall was
pharmaceutical production, which dropped 20 percent from a year
earlier. Pharmaceutical output traditionally is volatile.
- December's industrial production was revised upwards to
show a year-on-year expansion instead of a 0.6 percent
contraction as earlier reported. The month-on-month seasonally
adjusted growth for December was raised to 6.6 percent from an
earlier estimate of 5.4 percent.
- Singapore's electronics output fell 3.4 percent in January
from a year ago. But the semiconductors segment reversed from a
declining trend to record year-on-year growth of 4.3 percent.
- Singapore's non-oil domestic exports edged 0.5 percent
higher in January from a year ago, helped by increased shipments
of printed matter, petrochemicals and non-monetary gold.
- Although Singapore exports most of what it produces, there
is sometimes a time lag between production and shipment. The
city-state's export data is reported in Singapore dollars while
industrial production data is based on an index that takes into
account volume.
For the full set of data, please click on
www.singstat.gov.sg
(Reporting by Kevin Lim; Editing by Richard Borsuk)
