KUALA LUMPUR: The Industrial Production Index (IPI) for January 2003 rose by 1% to 177.2 compared with 175.5 recorded in January, 2002.
The expansion in the IPI was solely due to the increase in the index of the Mining Sector, which rose by 7.0% to 136.5 (Jan 2002: 127.6), the Statistics Department said in releasing the preliminary figures of the IPI here yesterday.
The index of the manufacturing sector remained at 186.4, the department said in a statement.
On the other hand, the index of the electricity sector dropped by 1.5% to 211.5 (January 2002: 214.8).
As compared with the IPI of 193.3 for December 2002, the IPI for January 2003, shrank by 8.3%, it added.
The month-on-month contraction was due to the lower indices of the manufacturing and the mining sectors by 11.1% (December 2002: 209.7) and 0.9% (December 2002: 137.7) respectively, it said.
The department said that the electricity index, on the other hand, expanded by 3.4% (December 2002: 204.5).
The IPI is the measure of the rate of change in the production of industrial commodities in real terms over time. The commodities comprise of manufacturing, mining and electricity generation. – Bernama
