Malaysia’s Industrial Production Index (IPI) grew by 3.6 per cent in February 2023 after recording a modest growth of 1.8 per cent in January 2023.
The expansion in February 2023 was spearheaded by Manufacturing sector which increased by 4.9 per cent (January 2023: 1.3%) and Electricity sector which rose by 1.1 per cent (January 2023: -4.3%).
The Department fo Statistics Malaysia (DoSM) in its Index Of Industrial Production, Malaysia February 2023 release today found that on the other hand, the Mining sector output declined marginally by 0.5 per cent in February 2023, after registering positive growth for eight consecutive months. Based on month-on-month comparison, the IPI continued to decline since December 2022 by registering a negative 5.1 per cent in February 2023 (January 2023: -2.3%).
Output for the export-oriented industries which accounted for two-thirds of Manufacturing output expanded by 3.9 per cent in February 2023 as compared to 0.6 per cent recorded in the previous month.
The expansion was bolstered by the Manufacture of vegetable & animal oils & fats production which soared by 21.5 per cent (January 2023: 8.3%); and the Manufacture of computer, electronics & optical products which grew by 6.4 per cent (January 2023: 0.8%).
In the meantime, the growth of the domestic-oriented industry outpaced the national Manufacturing growth by registering 7.0 per cent in February 2023 (January 2023: 2.7%).
The increase was contributed by the positive momentum recorded in all groups except for Manufacture of beverages which posted a decrease of 2.3 per cent in February 2023.
The Manufacture of fabricated metal products, except machinery and equipment; and Manufacture of food processing products propelled the growth of domestic-oriented industry with an expansion of 8.9 per cent (January 2023: 1.5%) and 8.5 per cent (January 2023: 0.4%) respectively.
In comparison with January 2023, the Manufacturing sector contracted for the third month to record negative 3.9 per cent.
The production of Mining sector in February 2023 edged down by 0.5 per cent influenced by a slight decline in both components where Crude Oil & Condensate index dropped by 0.3 per cent (January 2023: 8.0%) while Natural Gas index fell by 0.5 per cent (January 2023: 4.5%).
As compared to the previous month, the Mining index turned downward to negative 9.6 per cent as compared to the positive growth of 1.7 per cent recorded in January 2023.
The Electricity output rebounded to 1.1 per cent in February 2023 after recording continuous contraction for four consecutive months. On a month-on-month comparison, the Electricity index continued to weaken by 5.5 per cent as compared to the negative 3.4 per cent recorded in January 2023.
Analysing the performance from January to February 2023, the IPI recorded an expansion of 2.7 per cent as compared to the same period of the previous year.
During the period, the Manufacturing and Mining indices increased by 3.0 per cent and 2.8 per cent respectively; while the Electricity index fell 1.7 per cent.
