KUALA LUMPUR (June 10): Malaysia’s industrial output rose at a slightly slower than expected pace in April from a year earlier, led by manufacturing activities and electricity generation, official data on Monday showed.

The industrial production index (IPI) — which measures output from factories, mines, and power plants — climbed 6.1% in April, as compared to the same month in 2023, the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) said in a statement. That compares to the median 6.5% increase predicted in a Bloomberg survey and March’s 2.4% year-on-year gain.

On a month-on-month basis, the index fell 7.6% in April.

The latest reading dovetails with modest improvement in factory output of major Asian exporters China, South Korea, Vietnam, Thailand and Taiwan over the same month. However, industrial production in Singapore, Japan and the US declined.

Growth of Malaysia’s key manufacturing sector picked up to 4.9% year-on-year in April versus 1.3% in March. Mining output surged 10% from 4.9% in the preceding month while electricity generation rose 7.6%, decelerating from 8.5% in March.

Domestic-oriented industries expanded 9.5% in April against 3.1% growth in March, mainly driven by manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers as well as fabricated metal products.

Exports industries, however, accelerated to 2.6% in April from a 0.5% rise in March, driven by coke and refined petroleum products.

Manufacturing sales, meanwhile, rose on an annual basis for the fourth consecutive month, rising 5.7% in April to RM153.2 billion in April compared to March’s 1.4% year-on-year gain, the department said in a separate statement.

The rise in April was mainly propelled by sales in the sub-sectors of transport equipment, non-metallic mineral products, basic metal and fabricated metal products and electrical and electronics products, it noted.