26-05-2008 13:00:00
Singapore April factory output falls 16.2 pct s/adj
SINGAPORE, May 26 (Reuters) - Singapore's April factory output dropped a much sharper-than-expected 16.2 percent after seasonal adjustments from March, the biggest fall since records started in 1983, providing new evidence of slowing global demand.
Six economists had forecast output would fall a seasonally adjusted 3.55 percent in April from March, as manufacturers cut production to avoid a build-up in inventories after an earlier surge in output, and as demand in key export markets weakened.
The monthly manufacturing data follows a rise of 0.4 percent in March, revised from a dip of 0.6 percent, and a revised 8.3 percent gain in February.
From a year earlier, factory output in April fell 5.7 percent, the Economic Development Board said in a statement, compared with a market forecast for a 7.3 percent rise.
Manufacturing accounts for about a quarter of Singapore's S$229-billion ($169-billion) trade-dependent economy in 2007.
(Reporting by Koh Gui Qing; Editing by Jan Dahinten) ((
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http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idINSIN29350420080526?rpc=611
