KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 7 — Malaysia’s Industrial Production Index (IPI), which consists of three sectors, namely mining, manufacturing, and electricity, slipped by 0.5 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) in September, said the Department of Statistics Malaysia.
Chief Statistician Datuk Seri Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the decrease was mainly influenced by the 5.2 per cent downturn in the mining sector.
Conversely, the manufacturing sector returned to marginal growth of 0.4 per cent in September after experiencing a declining trend for three consecutive months, while the electricity sector ascended by 2.5 per cent as against 1.9 per cent registered in August.
“The expansion in manufacturing output was primarily fueled by the steady performance of domestic-oriented industries, which accelerated by 5.9 per cent in September.
“This upturn was underpinned by the manufacture of fabricated metal products, except machinery and equipment (9.6 per cent), manufacture of food processing products (8.2 per cent), and manufacture of other non-metallic mineral products (8.0 per cent),” he said in a statement today.
On a monthly basis, the IPI showed continuous expansion with 1.1 per cent growth after registering 2.8 per cent in August.
Uzir said the decline in the mining sector output was influenced by natural gas production, which returned to negative territory, with a decline of 7.8 per cent as opposed to the 2.6 per cent increase in August.
Additionally, crude oil and condensate output continued declining, registering a -1.4 per cent in September compared with a -3.3 per cent in the month before.
As for the electricity sector, the output increased by 2.5 per cent in September after registering 1.9 per cent growth in the previous month.
On a quarterly basis, the IPI registered a marginal decline of 0.04 per cent y-o-y in the third quarter of 2023 versus the -0.3 per cent recorded in the second quarter of 2023.
“The IPI expanded at a slower rate of 0.8 per cent for the first nine months of 2023 as compared to the same period last year, which stood at 7.7 per cent.
“The increase was supported by the manufacturing index (1.1 per cent) and the electricity index (1.7 per cent), while the mining index dipped by 0.4 per cent,” he added.
— Bernama
