KUALA LUMPUR: The Industrial Production Index rose by 2.4 per cent year-on-year (YoY) in May 2024, driven by steady output growth in the manufacturing sector, according to the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DoSM).
Chief statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the IPI remained positive in May, registering a YoY growth of 2.4 per cent compared to 6.1 per cent in April 2024.
He added that the increase was primarily driven by the manufacturing sector which grew by 4.6 per cent (April: 4.9 per cent) and a 4.2 per cent expansion in electricity output (April: 7.8 per cent). "However, the mining sector output plummeted by 6.9 per cent, contrasting double-digit growth of 10.0 per cent recorded in April. Compared to the previous month, the IPI rebounded to 3.5 per cent from negative 7.6 per cent," it said in a statement.
Mohd Uzir noted that the steady output growth in the manufacturing sector was bolstered by the acceleration in export-oriented industries, which grew by 3.7 per cent as against 2.6 per cent recorded in April.
He said this marked the highest growth registered since Nov 2022 (5.1 per cent), driven primarily by a strong rebound in the manufacture of computer, electronics and optical products to 8.4 per cent (April: -1.4 per cent) and a 4.8 per cent increase in the manufacture of vegetable and animal oils and fats (April: 2.7 per cent).
"The growth momentum is also reflected in the country's manufactured goods export performance, which expanded by 13.5 per cent in May (April: 11.9 per cent). On a month-on-month (MoM) basis, export-oriented industries turned upward by 9.0 per cent from negative 11.6 per cent in April," he said.
Meanwhile, the growth of domestic-oriented industries output remained sound at 6.4 per cent after registering 9.5 per cent in April.
The manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers contributed significantly, increasing by 10.3 per cent; followed by the manufacture of other non-metallic mineral products (9.8 per cent); and the manufacture of fabricated metal products, except machinery and equipment (6.5 per cent).
Compared to the previous month, the domestic-oriented industries expanded by 2.3 per cent compared to -1.3 per cent in April.
Mohd Uzir said the deterioration of 6.9 per cent in the Mining sector in May was due to a double-digit decline in natural gas production at negative 10.3 per cent (April: 14.9 per cent) and a drop of 1.9 per cent in the crude oil and condensate output (April: 3.5 per cent).
"Likewise, the mining index decreased by 8.9 per cent following a 6.3 per cent decline in the preceding month. Meanwhile, electricity generation grew by 4.2 per cent year-on-year in May (April: 7.8 per cent).
On a MoM basis, the electricity index rebounded to 5.6 per cent compared to -4.0 per cent in April," he added.
Summarising the IPI performance for the period of January to May 2024, Mohd Uzir said IPI improved by 3.6 per cent as compared to 1.9 per cent recorded in the same period of the previous year.
During the period, all sectors posted an expansion, namely the mining index (4.1 per cent), manufacturing index (3.1 per cent), and electricity index (7.8 per cent).
In May, the IPI showed an upward trend in several countries, such as the United States, Singapore, Japan, Vietnam, and Taiwan.
The IPI slowed down in China and South Korea while Thailand experienced a decline.