More bad news for Singapore manufacturing

Singapore's manufacturing sector is definitely decelerating.

The Singapore Institute of Purchasing and Materials Management's index of manufacturing activity dropped 1.7 points to 51.5 in October. This is the lowest reading in 14 months. The new export orders index fell 4.4 points to 50.6, while the production index fell 4.8 points to 49.1.

And to add to the manufacturing gloom, there was further confirmation of the semiconductor slowdown over the past two days when the Semiconductor Industry Association (SEMI) and IDC both lowered forecasts for semiconductor sales next year. SEMI forecasted global chip sales to be US$214 billion next year, unchanged from this year, compared with an earlier projection of 4 percent growth. IDC expects sales to fall 2 percent to US$205 billion next year, compared with an earlier forecast of 7.5 percent growth.