Production of computer peripherals and hard-disk drives plunged
last month, by 56.9 per cent and 44.1 per cent respectively.
'Lesser demand and production relocation were the contributing
factors,' said the EDB.
"WEAKENING world demand for electronic gadgets is taking the spark
out of Christmas for Singapore manufacturers as industrial output
grew at its slowest pace in 20 months....
Fewer cellphones were also made, causing the infocomms and consumer
electronics sector to fall 11.7 per cent.
While semiconductors clocked in a 14.7 per cent expansion, this was
a further moderation from September's 22.9 per cent, which itself
was a slowdown from 10 months of above 30 per cent growth.
'For the next few months, we expect softer global demand for
semiconductors,' said United Overseas Bank economist Alvin
Liew.
Citing a number of forward-looking indicators, he said growth
prospects for Singapore's main export markets, especially the
United States, look weak.
The pharmaceutical and marine sectors emerged, once again,
as the bright spots.
Strong growth at drug factories led a 17.8 per cent expansion of
the biomedical cluster, while yards building ships and oil rigs
shored up a 22.1 per cent increase in the transport engineering
sector....
(Straits Times 25 Nov)
With factories re-locating to cheaper economies, it just go to show
that Singapore is right to focus on new growth industries like the
biomedical cluster. China is fine for making disk drives but they
do not have a good reputation for high-end products like drugs.
Singapore has a narrow window to prosper in this area until they
catch up...
