Now the drugs don’t work

Singapore - Singapore’s manufacturing output slipped 5.7% in April due to a contraction in the pharmaceuticals industry, a sector previously fingered as the nation's star performer.

The biomedical manufacturing sector contracted by 24.5% in April, with the pharmaceuticals segment shrinking 27.9% due to different mix of active pharmaceutical ingredients produced in April, EDB said in a release.

The slip in manufacturing was worse than analysts' expectations who projected output to slow down but remain in positive territory, said news reports.

The overall manufacturing output was hurt also by a shrinking electronics sector. Growth in the electronics cluster contracted by 5.1% in April, the report said. Growth in the data storage and other electronic modules and components, which registered 14.3% and 10.5% respectively, were offset by contractions in the semiconductors (-7.4%), computer peripherals (-3.7%) and infocomms and consumer electronics (-25.1%).

Meanwhile, the transport engineering cluster grew 7.7% in April compared to a year ago. The marine and offshore engineering segment expanded by 15.1% as shipyards remained occupied fulfilling current contracts for construction of oil rigs and shipbuilding, conversion and repair jobs.

Manufacturing output for the first four months of 2008 increased 8% over the same period in 2007. On a seasonally adjusted month-on-month basis, output in April declined 16.2% from March.