IPI growth moderates to 1.8 pct in January

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s Industrial Production Index (IPI) growth moderated to 1.8 per cent in January 2023 against 2.9 per cent in the preceding month, weighed down partly by a slower growth in manufacturing output, said the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM).

Chief statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the manufacturing sector’s output grew 1.3 per cent yearon-year (y-o-y) versus 3.0 per cent in December 2022 while the electricity output contracted at a faster rate of 4.3 per cent compared with 2.2 per cent previously.

Meanwhile, mining production expanded by 5.9 per cent, up from 3.9 per cent in December 2022.

“Y-o-y growth of IPI for January 2023 was also the lowest recorded since August 2021,” he said in a statement yesterday.

On a month-on-month comparison, the IPI decreased further by 2.3 per cent in January 2023 after registering a marginal drop of 0.6 per cent in the previous month.

According to DOSM, both the export-oriented and domesticoriented industries contributed to the moderation in the manufacturing sector’s growth.

Export-oriented industries’ output growth slowed to 0.6 per cent from 2.7 per cent in the previous month, while domesticoriented industries’ production grew 2.7 per cent compared with 3.8 per cent in December 2022.

The manufacture of computer, electronics and optical products, the largest contributor to manufacturing sector’s production, recorded a lower output growth of 0.8 per cent against 7.6 per cent in the month before, in line with slower momentum of external trade sector and declining trend in global semiconductor industry, he said.

Meantime, Mohd Uzir said rapid expansion was observed in the manufacture of coke and refined petroleum products with an output growth of 11.0 per cent as well as in the manufacture of vegetable and animal oils and fats at 8.3 per cent.

He explained that production of domestic-oriented industries, which contributed to onethird of the manufacturing output, was propelled by the manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers which accelerated by 12.2 per cent.

The output growth was positive in almost all domesticoriented industries products except for the manufacture of beverages and basic metals which posted declines during the month.

On the mining sector’s output performance, Mohd Uzir said the 5.9 per cent growth was due to the strong growth of 8.0 per cent in the crude oil and condensate index and 4.5 per cent in the natural gas index.

“The mining index grew by 1.7 per cent (in January 2023) against 1.1 per cent growth recorded in the previous month,” he said. — Bernama