Malaysia’s Industrial Production Index (IPI) growth moderated to 1.8 percent in January 2023 against 2.9 percent in the preceding month, weighed down partly by slower growth in manufacturing output, said the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM).
Chief statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the manufacturing sector’s output grew 1.3 percent year-on-year (y-o-y) versus 3.0 percent in December 2022 while the electricity output contracted at a faster rate of 4.3 percent compared with 2.2 percent previously.
Meanwhile, mining production expanded by 5.9 percent, up from 3.9 percent in December 2022.
“Y-o-y growth of IPI for January 2023 was also the lowest recorded since August 2021,” he said in a statement today.
On a month-on-month comparison, the IPI decreased further by 2.3 percent in January 2023 after registering a marginal drop of 0.6 percent in the previous month.
According to DOSM, both the export-oriented and domestic-oriented industries contributed to the moderation in the manufacturing sector’s growth.
Export-oriented industries’ output growth slowed to 0.6 percent from 2.7 percent in the previous month, while domestic-oriented industries’ production grew 2.7 percent compared with 3.8 percent in December 2022.
The manufacture of computer, electronics, and optical products, the largest contributor to the manufacturing sector’s production, recorded a lower output growth of 0.8 percent against 7.6 percent in the month before, in line with the slower momentum of external trade sector and declining trend in the global semiconductor industry, he said.
Meantime, Mohd Uzir said the rapid expansion was observed in the manufacture of coke and refined petroleum products with output growth of 11.0 percent as well as in the manufacture of vegetable and animal oils and fats at 8.3 percent.
He explained that the production of domestic-oriented industries, which contributed to one-third of the manufacturing output, was propelled by the manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers, and semi-trailers which accelerated by 12.2 percent.
The output growth was positive in almost all domestic-oriented industries products except for the manufacture of beverages and basic metals which posted declines during the month.
On the mining sector’s output performance, Mohd Uzir said the 5.9 percent growth was due to the strong growth of 8.0 percent in the crude oil and condensate index and 4.5 percent in the natural gas index.
“The mining index grew by 1.7 per cent (in January 2023) against 1.1 per cent growth recorded in the previous month,” he said.
