KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s Industrial Production Index (IPI) increased 3.9% in February compared with the same month of the previous year, driven by the growth in the manufacturing sector, according to the Statistics Department.

       Chief statistician Malaysia Datuk Seri Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the manufacturing index increased 5.2%, electricity index expanded 3.9%t, while mining index declined 0.4%.

       “On a month-on-month basis, the IPI decreased 6.6%, affected by all components of indices,” he said in a statement.

       Mohd Uzir said the manufacturing sector output year-on-year increased 5.2% in February after recording a growth of 6.8% in January.

       He said the main subsectors contributing to the growth in the manufacturing sector in February were electrical and electronics products (12.8%), transport equipment and other manufactures (8.4%), and food, beverage and tobacco products (6.6%).

       “Simultaneously, the growth of the manufacturing sector was driven by both domestic-oriented industry (6.2%) and export-oriented industry (4.7%).”

       For month-on-month comparison, Mohd Uzir noted that the manufacturing sector decreased 7.2% compared with January, influenced by lower capacity utilisation, especially in the nonmetallic mineral products; basic metal and fabricated metal products; and food, beverage and tobacco products subsectors.

       He said the mining sector output declined 0.4% in February 2022 compared with the same period of the previous year.

       “The deterioration was affected by a decrease of 4.3% in crude oil and condensate index, while natural gas index grew 2.6%. The mining index registered a decrease of 3.8% compared with the previous month,” he said.

       Mohd Uzir said the electricity sector output rose 3.9% in February compared with the same month of the previous year with the electricity index decreasing 8.4% on month-on-month comparison.

       In the meantime, Mohd Uzir said the IPI in the period of January to February recorded an expansion of 4.1% compared with the same period of the previous year.

       “The increment was supported by the rise in the manufacturing index (6%) and electricity index (5.4%), while mining index shrank 2.8%,” he added. — Bernama