PETALING JAYA: The Industrial Production Index (IPI) for the mining, manufacturing, and electricity sectors shrank 0.7% in August compared to the same month last year, according to the Department of Statistics Malaysia.
Chief Statistician Malaysia Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the reduction in the IPI was influenced by the declines in the mining index at 4.2% and the electricity index at 4.8%. However, the manufacturing index grew 0.6%.
“On a month-on-month basis, the IPI increased by 3.2%, driven by the manufacturing and electricity sectors after the reopening of more economic sectors during the transition phase of the National Recovery Plan” he said in a statement today.
The year-on-year output of the manufacturing sector rebounded by 0.6% in August after recording a downturn of 6.5% in July. The main subsectors that contributed to the growth were petroleum, chemical, rubber and plastic products (15.2%) and electrical and electronics products (8.6%).
Export-oriented industries increased 7.6% while domestic-oriented industries decreased by 13.8%. The increase in export-oriented industries was mainly supported by the manufacturing of coke and refined petroleum products and manufacturing of computer, electronic and optical products.
The manufacturing sector’s performance was in line with the encouraging growth in exports.
Meanwhile, the decline in domestic-based industries was influenced by the manufacturing of motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers and manufacturing of other non-metallic mineral products.
The manufacturing sector’s output rose 5.3% month-on-month in which the increase was reflected by higher capacity utilisation, especially in the electrical and electronic products, food, beverages, tobacco, and petroleum, chemical, rubber, and plastic products subsectors.
The output of the mining sector declined 4.2% in August compared to the same period last year. On a month-on-month basis, the mining index fell 4.5%. Meanwhile, the natural gas index jumped by 1.6%.
The output of the electricity sector contracted by 4.8% in August compared to the same month of the previous year. The electricity index grew 2.8% on month-on-month
The IPI from January to August recorded an expansion of 8.2% compared to the same period of the previous year, driven by increases in all components – manufacturing index at 10.4%, mining index 3%, and electricity index 1.7%.