IPI year-on-year increases by 3.1 per cent in March 2018

KUALA LUMPUR: TheIndustrial Production Index (IPI) increased by 3.1 per cent in March 2018 as compared with the same month of the previous year.

In a statement, the Department of Statistics Malaysia stated that the increase in March 2018 was supported by growth in the manufacturing index (4.1 per cent) and electricity index (4.4 per cent).

Meanwhile, the mining index recorded zero growth in March compared to the same period of the previous year.

The manufacturing sector’s output recorded an increase of 4.1 per cent in March after recording a growth of 4.7 per cent in February 2018.

The major sub-sectors which registered increases in March were electrical and electronic equipment products (5.8 per cent), food, beverages and tobacco products (6.0 per cent) and non-metallic mineral products, basic metals and fabricated metal products (4.5 per cent).

The mining sector’s output recorded zero growth in March compared to the same period of the previous year (February 2018: 1.6 per cent).

This was due to a marginal increase in the crude oil index of 1.1 per cent.

Meanwhile, the natural gas index declined by 0.9 per cent. Electricity output recorded an increase of 4.4 per cent in March 2018 after recording an increase of 2.8 per cent in the preceding month of February. — Bernama