ANN/THE STRAITS TIMES – Singapore’s manufacturing sector is showing signs of further weakening, with leading indicators declining for the third consecutive month in March 2025, reaching their lowest point in eight months.
The Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), a key gauge of sector activity, stood at 50.6 in March, just 0.1 point lower than February’s 50.7. A reading above 50 signals growth, while below indicates contraction.
Similarly, the electronics PMI, which represents a significant portion of Singapore’s manufacturing, also fell by 0.1 point to 50.9, as reported by the Singapore Institute of Purchasing and Materials Management on April 2.
The slowdown is evident across Asia, with the ASEAN PMI, as well as indices in India and North Asia, including South Korea, also showing declines.
Meanwhile, the declines in the PMIs of Thailand and the Philippines brought them into contraction territory, joining Malaysia and South Korea.
Bucking the trend were China and Vietnam, which registered improvements.
In Singapore, while the majority of sub-indexes of the overall PMI and that of electronics posted declines, stocks of raw materials or components that go into the final product, as well as supplier deliveries, rose, albeit marginally. Experts told The Straits Times that the slowdown was to be expected, given the escalation in United States (US) President Donald Trump’s beggar-thy-neighbour trade policy, culminating in the all-out ‘Liberation Day’ offensive on April 2 US time.
UOB associate economist Jester Koh said this has caused uncertainty surrounding US trade policy to hit “new record highs” as reflected in the Trade Policy Uncertainty (TPU) index.
“This is materially above levels seen during the 2018-2019 trade wars under Trump’s first term,” he said.
