KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s industrial production index (IPI) expanded at a firm pace of 3.2% in August, driven by the manufacturing and electricity as more economic sectors opened up, the Statistics Department said.

       Chief Statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said on Tuesday the on-month recovery was in line with the transition phase of the National Recovery Plan (NRP) as the manufacturing sector was supported by the export-oriented industries.

       However, the IPI dipped 0.7% in August 2021 from a year ago due to the decline in mining index (-4.2%) and electricity index (-4.8%). The manufacturing index expanded by 0.6% after shrinking 6.5% in July 2021. Contributing to the growth in manufacturing sector in August 2021 were petroleum, chemical, rubber & plastic products (15.2%) and electrical & electronics products (8.6%).

       “Export-oriented industries grew 7.6% while domestic-oriented industries shrank by 13.8%. The increase in export-oriented industries was mainly supported by the manufacture of coke & refined petroleum products and manufacture of computer, electronics & optical products. He said the performance of the manufacturing sector was also in line with the encouraging growth of exports. However, the decline in the domestic-based industries was influenced by the manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers & semi-trailers and manufacture of other non-metallic mineral products.

       Mohd Uzir pointed out the manufacturing sector for month-on-month basis also increased 5.3% as compared to July 2021 where the increment was reflected by higher capacity utilisation compared to last month especially in the electrical & electronic products, food, beverages & tobacco and petroleum, chemical, rubber & plastic products sub-sectors.

       The mining sector output shrank 4.2% in August 2021 as compared to the same period last year. The growth was contributed by the fall of 11.0 per cent in crude oil & condensate index. Meanwhile, natural gas index rose by 1.6%.

       Mohd Uzir added the mining index also declined 4.5% as compared to the previous month. The electricity sector output contracted by 4.8% in August 2021 from a year ago.

       However, on a month-on-month comparison, the Electricity index grew 2.8 per cent.

       The IPI in January to August 2021 expanded by 8.2% when compared with the previous corresponding period. The increase was driven by the rise in all components; manufacturing index (10.4%), mining index (3.0%) and electricity index (1.7%).

       WhatsApp Image 2021-10-12 at 11.50.25 AM (1)