Malaysia’s IPI inches down 0.3% in August 2023 – DoSM

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s Industrial Production Index (IPI) inched down by 0.3 per cent in August 2023 compared to the same month a year ago as export-oriented industries declined while the domestic-oriented ones continued to expand, the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) said.

July 2023 recorded a positive 0.7 per cent, chief statistician Datuk Seri Mohd Uzir Mahidin said in a statement today.

He attributed the drop to the manufacturing sector contracting 0.6 per cent in August versus the 0.2 per cent contraction in July 2023.

However, he said August 2023’s IPI rose by 2.8 per cent when compared against July 2023, which saw a negative growth of 1.8 per cent.

The mining sector, however, saw a marginal 0.1 per cent growth (July 2023: 4.2 per cent) while the electricity sector expanded by 1.9 per cent (July 2023: 1.5 per cent).

“The (August 2023) contraction was mainly due to a decrease in the manufacture of coke and refined petroleum products (-7.5 per cent) and computer, electronics and optical products (-3.8 per cent).

“These declines mirrored the country’s export performance, which had been trending down since March 2023 and recorded an 18.6 per cent decrease in August 2023,” he said.

On the contrary, Mohd Uzir said the domestic-oriented industries continued to expand moderately at 4.2 per cent versus 6.0 per cent in the previous month, spearheaded by fabricated metal products and food processing products manufacturing. August 2023 production rebounded to 5.1 per cent against the negative 4.3 per cent in July 2023.

The IPI performance for the first eight months of 2023 saw a slower growth rate of 1.0 per cent compared to the same period a year ago which was 7.3 per cent.

During the period, the indices for all sectors posted positive growth, namely the manufacturing index (1.2 per cent), mining index (0.2 per cent) and electricity index (1.6 per cent). – BK