KUALA LUMPUR: The Industrial Production Index (IPI), which measures the real output in the manufacturing, mining and electric industries, registered a marginal increase of 0.6 per cent in November 2023 year-on-year (y-o-y), said the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DoSM).
In a statement today, chief statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the modest expansion of 1.9 per cent in the mining segment and 4.2 per cent in the electricity sector contributed to the IPI uptrend.
However, he said the manufacturing sector output turned negative 0.1 per cent after two consecutive months of positive growth.
On a month-on-month comparison, Mohd Uzir said the IPI contracted 0.9 per cent as compared to the 1.9 per cent growth recorded in October 2023.
"The decrease in the manufacturing output was due to the lower output production in the export-oriented industries, which dropped by 2.7 per cent.
"The contraction was mainly attributable to the fall in the manufacture of computer, electronics and optical products (-8.6 per cent); manufacture of coke and refined petroleum products (-1.8 per cent); and the manufacture of wood and products of wood and cork (-1.9 per cent),” he said.
Mohd Uzir said the performance was in line with the country’s export performance, which had been trending downward since March 2023 and recorded a negative 5.9 per cent in November.
He said the export-oriented industries slipped by 2.2 per cent compared to the preceding month.
On the other hand, Mohd Uzir said the domestic-oriented industries remained resilient by registering an increase of 5.8 per cent in November 2023, boosted mainly by the 10.9 per cent in the manufacture of food processing products; manufacture of fabricated metal products, except machinery and equipment by 8.9 per cent; and manufacture of other non-metallic mineral products by 6.9 per cent.
"The domestic-oriented industries rebounded 3.7 per cent as against the negative 1.4 per cent registered in October 2023,” he said.
For the 11 months of January to November 2023 performance, Mohd Uzir said the IPI rose at a slower rate of 1.0 per cent compared to 7.1 per cent in the same period in 2022.
"The expansion was supported by the Electricity index (2.3 per cent), Manufacturing index (0.9 per cent) and Mining index (0.6 per cent),” he added. - Bernama
