Singapore factory output rises amid regional downtrend

Manufacturing sector extends growth in Sept with electronics as the key driver

- Celin Tan

The manufacturing sector bucked the downtrend across most of the region in September to rack up another month of gains.

The purchasing managers' index (PMI), a barometer of the sector, rose to 51 points, up from 50.9 points in August. Readings above 50 indicate growth; those below point to contraction.

Electronics was the key driver, with its PMI reading coming in at 51.5 points, up from 51.3 in August and its highest level in more than six years, noted data from the Singapore Institute of Purchasing and Materials Management on Oct 2.

OCBC Bank chief economist Selena Ling said the higher readings were unsurprising, given the positive signals from industrial production data in August.

"The faster expansion of some of the underlying sub-indexes is generally indicative of a pickup in external demand conditions that is consistent with a global soft landing narrative," she noted.

The picture across the region was gloomier, with anaemic global demand particularly decelerating growth in the US - hampering factory output in much of Asia.