S'pore's Feb factory output falls 2.3% from Jan

Singapore's February manufacturing output unexpectedly fell a seasonally adjusted 2.3 per cent from January, data showed on Wednesday, reflecting weaker-than-expected performance by the pharmaceuticals sector.

From a year earlier, factory output in February rose 10 per cent, the Economic Development Board said in a statement, compared with a market forecast for a 9.1 per cent rise.

Electronics production, which accounts for a third of Singapore’s total factory output, rose 5 per cent in February on a seasonally adjusted basis, the EDB said.

Five economists in a Reuters poll had forecast output would rise a seasonally adjusted 1.5 per cent in February from January, on predictions that strong gains in pharmaceuticals would offset weaker electronics production.

However, some economists said it was too early to bet on a recovery in the lacklustre tech sector, which lagged growth in Singapore's overall economy last year.

'The figures show that we got a rebound in the first quarter, putting off a technical recession,' said Song Seng Wun at CIMB. 'The financial turmoil in the markets may only hit home going into the second half of the year.'

Manufacturing accounts for about a quarter of Singapore's US$164.7 billion, trade-dependent economy in 2007.