KUALA LUMPUR (March 12): Malaysia’s industrial production grew at a slower than expected pace in January as factory activity, decelerated while mining and electricity output contracted, official data on Wednesday showed.
The industrial production index — which measures output from factories, mines, and power plants — rose 2.1% in January from a year earlier, the Department of Statistics Malaysia said in a statement. That compares with the 2.7% gain predicted in a Bloomberg survey and December’s 4.6% year-on-year rise.
On a month-on-month basis, the index declined 0.4% in January, the same pace as in December.
The latest reading tracked gains in the major industrial economies of Japan, Singapore, Vietnam, Taiwan and the US during the same month. Thailand and South Korea, however, reported a contraction in industrial production in January.
On a year-on-year basis, the key manufacturing sector expanded at a much slower rate of 3.7% in January, versus 5.8% in December. The electricity sector meanwhile was down 0.1%, after growing 3.5% in December. The mining index decreased 3.1%, compared with a 0.9% increase in December.
Growth of domestic-oriented industries moderated to 0.2% in January, compared with 3.7% in the previous month, contributed by manufacturing of processed food products industry and fabricated metal products.
Export-oriented industries grew 5.6% in January, compared with December’s 6.8% gain, supported by manufacturing of computers, electronic and optical products, as well as production of vegetable and animal oils and fats.
Manufacturing sales totalled RM158.1 billion in January, a 3.5% increase when compared to the same month in 2024, the department said in a separate statement. Compared to December, sales were down 0.2%.
The rise was primarily driven by a 10.6% increase in the food, beverages and tobacco sub-sector, followed by a 7.3% rise in the electrical and electronics products sub-sector.