Singapore’s industrial production rose at the slowest pace in eight months in July as pharmaceutical companies reduced output after a ramp-up earlier this year that boosted the island’s economy.

Manufacturing, which accounts for about a quarter of the economy, climbed 9.9% from a year earlier, after a revised 29.5% gain in June, the Economic Development Board said in a statement today. The median estimate of 11 economists surveyed by Bloomberg was for a 9.3% gain.

 

Singapore’s economy grew at a record pace in the first half as demand for its computer chips and manufactured goods recovered from a trade slowdown that pushed the nation into a recession last year. The expansion may ease in the second six months as households in some of the world’s largest economies hold back spending.

 

“Considering the uncertainties revolving around the pace of recovery in the U.S. and a slower growth momentum in China, headwinds against the manufacturing sector have picked up significantly and will likely weigh on production growth going forward,” Irvin Seah, an economist at DBS Group Holdings Ltd. in Singapore, said before the report. “The robust GDP growth experienced in the first half of the year will most likely fizzle out in the second half.”

 

Weaker-than-estimated economic growth in Japan and slower expansion in the U.S. and China have added to signs that the global recovery may weaken, threatening demand for Asia’s goods.

 

Electronics shipments by companies including Venture Corp., Singapore’s biggest electronics contract manufacturer, climbed 25.7% in July from a year earlier, while pharmaceutical shipments declined 23.5%, a report this month showed.

 

Industrial production gained a seasonally adjusted 1.4% in July from June, when it fell a revised 22% from a month earlier.

 

Electronics production jumped 24.5% from a year earlier, following a revised 52.8% gain in June. Pharmaceutical output dropped 10.8%.