Singapore slump deepens

Singapore slump deepens

Reuters, Singapore

Singapore's manufacturers are suffering their worst crunch in history, with output in September feeling fallout from the U.S. attacks and compounding the woes of an economy in the depths of recession.

The city state's overall manufacturing output had a record fall of 22.3 percent in September versus a year ago, slightly better than average estimates of about 24 percent.

Analysts said sharp falls in U.S. electronics orders and weak trade data for Singapore signalled worse to come.

Manufacturing output was already hit before the Sept.11 attacks on the United States, with August output down 21.1 percent year-on-year.

Electronics production, a key pillar of Singapore's manufacturing economy at more than 60 percent of non-oil exports, fared especially poorly in September with a plunge of 35.5 percent year-on-year, the Economic Development Board (EDB) said.

All segments except data storage recorded declines in output.

Industrial production could slide 25-30 percent in the last quarter of the year, he said.