SEE: Singapore's PMI contracts for the 12th straight month in June
Says Sophia Poh, vice president for industry engagement and development at SPIMM, “the latest PMI reading indicates the resilience of the overall manufacturing sector, with expansion recorded for the fifth continuous month”. "However, factory employment remains weak and manufacturers remain concerned about the impact on global demand arising from new waves of the global pandemic that could derail the manufacturing recovery," she adds. Meanwhile, the electronics PMI edged up by 0.1 points to 51.1 recording an expansion for the fourth consecutive month. This is also the highest reading since the metric came in at 51.4 in September 2018. SPIMM attributes this to faster expansion rates in the indexes of new orders, new exports, factory output and employment. Selena Ling, who heads the treasury research and strategy division of OCBC bank believes the work-from-home arrangements will likely underpin the healthy demand for electronics. She notes that the sector’s order backlog gauge remains “very strong” at 50.8. This is up 0.6 points from the 51.0 recorded a month ago.