IPI up 3.4 per cent in October

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s Industrial Production Index (IPI) rose by 3.4 per cent year-on-year to 136.7 in October 2017, driven by positive growth in the output of the threemainsectorsofmanufacturing, mining and electricity.

During the month, the manufacturing index increased 4.2 per cent, while that of mining was up 0.8 per cent and electricity by 4.6 per cent, the Department of Statistics Malaysia said in a statement yesterday.

It said the index for September 2017 remained unchanged at 4.7 per cent year-on-year.

On a month-on-month basis, the IPI in October 2017 posted a decline of 0.8 per cent from September due to a decrease in the manufacturing index by 1.1 per cent while that of mining and electricity increased by 0.4 per cent and 2.1 per cent, respectively.

On a cumulative basis, the IPI expanded 4.7 per cent for the January to October 2017 period compared with the previous corresponding period, due to the rise in all the indices of manufacturing (6.1 per cent), mining (1.0 per cent) and electricity (2.3 per cent).

Elaborating on the sectors’ performanceinOctober,thedepartment said that the moderate growth in manufacturing output compared with a growth of 5.7 per cent in September was contributed by the increases in major sectors, namely electrical and electronic products (5.9 per cent); petroleum, chemical, rubber and plastic products (2.1 per cent); and food, beverages and tobacco products (7.0 per cent). — Bernama