Singapore Industrial Output Falls 0.3% in June

Singapore's industrial production fell in June as the highly volatile output from the pharmaceutical sector contracted. 
Industrial production in June was down 0.3% compared with the same period a year ago, nearly matching the median forecast for a 0.2% fall from a poll of six analysts by The Wall Street Journal. 
Measured on-month and on a seasonally adjusted basis, manufacturing output fell 2.5% in June over May, compared with a 0.4% fall in April. The poll had predicted June's industrial production would fall 3.4% from the previous month. 
Electronics output, which accounts for 27.4% of the total value of goods produced in Singapore, increased 19.7% on- year in June, following a revised 5.3% rise in May, the data showed. 
Production in the highly unpredictable pharmaceuticals segment, however, fell 15.3% on-year in June, after a revised 14.6% on-year rise in May. 
Singapore's pharmaceutical industry is dominated by a few multinational firms with very large plants, and the value of output can change dramatically from month to month. For example, a batch of high-value cancer drugs can drive up the value of production in a month, while long maintenance shutdowns between batches of different drugs can cause sharp dips. 
Excluding biomedical output, production was 2.4% higher on-year in June, compared with a 2.5% fall in May, the data showed.