January industrial output below forecast at 3%

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's manufacturing sector got off to a slower start in January 2018, with the industrial production index (IPI) up 3%, which was below Bloomberg's survey of a 6.8% growth.

The Statistics Department said on Tuesday the January IPI was also down 4.5% from December 2017 due to slower growth in the manufacturing sector.

It said the manufacturing index grew at a slower pace of 4.8% on-year, 

The Industrial Production Index (IPI) increased by 3.0% in January from a year ago. 

“The expansion in January 2018 was supported by positive growth in all indices: Manufacturing (4.8%), Mining (1.5%) and Electricity (4.3%),” it said.

Growth had slowed down after the 5.3% increase in December 2017. 

The major sub-sectors which recorded increases in January 2018 were: food, beverage and tobacco products (14.4%), petroleum products, chemicals, rubber and plastic (2.1%) and electrical and electronic equipment products (4%).

However, the mining sector output rebounded with a growth of 1.5% in January 2018 (December 2017: -4.1%). 

This growth was contributed by the increase in crude oil index (1.8%) and natural gas index (1.5%).

The electricity output increased by 4.3% in January 2018 after recording 3.9% in December 2017.