KUALA LUMPUR: The Industrial Production Index (IPI) rebounded to 4.3 per cent in January 2024, in line with neighbours Singapore and Vietnam.
This was thanks to an increase production in the manufacturing and electricity sectors and sustained growth in the mining sector.
In December 2023, the IPI fell 0.03 per cent.
The IPI for several other countries such as Singapore, Vietnam, South Korea, and Taiwan, surged in January 2024, with marginal growth seen in the United States.
Conversely, while Japan and Thailand experienced a decline in their IPI, the decrease was less pronounced, showing a small negative.
The increase in IPI was spearheaded by a surge of 3.7 per cent in the manufacturing sector as compared to the negative 1.4 per cent recorded in the previous month.
The mining sector sustained its upward trend by registering 5.0 per cent (December 2023: 4.1 per cent) while the electricity sector accelerated at a faster pace of 8.3 per cent (December 2023: 4.1 per cent).
The turnaround in manufacturing sector was driven by the vibrant performance of domestic-oriented industries which picked up to 8.0 per cent (December 2023: 4.2 per cent), while export-oriented industries returned to positive growth of 1.6 per cent after seven consecutive months in negative territory (December 2023: -4.1 per cent).
The expansion in domestic-oriented was primarily reinforced by a double-digit growth in the manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers which registered an increase of 12.1 per cent, followed by the manufacture of fabricated metal products, except machinery and equipment at 11.9 per cent.
In addition, the manufacture of food processing products also contributed with a growth rate of 8.5 per cent. In comparison with the preceding month, the domestic-oriented industries turned upward to 4.9 per cent as opposed to the decline of 1.1 per cent in December 2023.
The uptick in production of the mining sector in January 2024 was induced by a 6.6 per cent expansion in natural gas production (December 2023: 5.9 per cent) and 2.6 per cent in the crude oil & condensate output (December 2023: 1.6 per cent). As compared to December 2023, the mining index accelerated by 3.1 per cent as against 2.8 per cent registered in the previous month.
The generation of electricity advanced further by 8.3 per cent in January 2024 after registering an increase of 4.1 per cent in the preceding month.
In comparison to the previous month, the electricity index increased to 2.0 per cent from 1.4 per cent recorded in December 2023.