KUALA LUMPUR: Business conditions for the manufacturing sector in Malaysia are expected to improve in the second half of 2017, according to a survey conducted by the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM) and the Malaysian Institute of Economic Research (MIER).
Forward-looking indicators by both institutions suggested Malaysian manufacturers expected conditions to improve over the next six months, especially with local sales and production volume increasing, while production cost pressure somewhat easing.
The optimism was reflected in the FMM-MIER Business Conditions Index on expectations for the second half of 2017, which rose 10 points to 110, with 31% expecting business conditions to improve.
On that note, FMM president Tan Sri Dr Lim Wee Chai said Malaysian manufacturing companies were expected to do well for the six months to December 2017.
“Our latest survey results showed that business activity has remained fairly stable for Malaysian manufacturing firms in recent months, while the outlook for the second half of 2017 is favourable, with firms expecting business conditions to improve, especially local sales and production volume,” Lim said.
“Nevertheless, manufacturers have been facing increasing costs mainly in the range of 1% to 5% year-on-year,” he told a press briefing on the FMM-MIER Business Conditions Survey.
The survey, conducted from June 2, 2017 to July 14, 2017, polled 396 manufacturers from various industries to gauge their sentiment on the current and expected levels of general business activity; local and export sales; production and capacity utilisation; capital investment and employment size; and cost of production.
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