Singapore's Factory Output Expands for Fifth Straight Month

Boost likely from electronics front-loading but analysts cautious about 2025 outlook

- Sheila Chiang

Singapore's manufacturing output expanded for a fifth straight month in November as production surged in the key electronics industry, which likely got a boost from front-loading ahead of possible US tariff hikes.

Analysts were cautious about the uncertain outlook for manufacturing in 2025, given the incoming Trump administration's more protectionist stance and heightened geopolitical tensions.

Total factory output climbed 8.5 per cent year on year, after a modest 1.2 per cent rise in October. The expansion, however, fell short of the 9.7 per cent growth forecast by economists in a Bloomberg poll.

Excluding the more volatile biomedical industry, output increased 13 per cent, data from the Economic Development Board on Dec 26 showed.

"Export demand for electronics remains robust, with the global semiconductor industry still in an upcycle," said Ms Yen Nee Lee, senior country risk analyst at BMI, ahead of the release.

She added that there are signs that exporters in China are "front-loading" shipments to the US - delivering as much inventory as possible in advance - ahead of President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration on Jan 20.

The move "should contribute to higher demand for intermediate goods from Singapore", she said.

Mr Jester Koh, associate economist at UOB, noted the ongoing upturn in the electronics cycle, with tailwinds from "some front-loading of exports and attendant ramp-up in production ahead of Trump's proposed tariffs on US imports".