Malaysia’s PPI rose 6.1 percent in April – DOSM

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s Index of Industrial Production (IPP) continued to increase by 6.1 percent year-on-year in April 2024, driven by higher output growth in the manufacturing sector, said the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM).

Chief Statistician Datuk Seri Mohd Uzir Mahidin said IPP growth accelerated in April after recording 2.4 percent in the previous month, maintaining positive momentum for four consecutive months.

April’s IPI also marked the highest growth recorded since September 2022, supported by expansion across all sectors during the month.

Manufacturing sector output grew by 4.9 percent, while the mining sector recorded strong growth of 10.0 percent, and the electricity sector remained stable at a rate of 7.6 percent.

“The increase in manufacturing output in April 2024 was supported by higher production in export-oriented industries, which was 2.6 percent compared to 0.5 percent recorded in March 2024.

“The increase was led mainly by the manufacture of coke and refined petroleum products and the manufacture of chemicals and chemical products, which recorded an increase of 5.9 percent and 5.0 percent, respectively,” he said.

In addition, he said furniture manufacturing also experienced a jump of 13.1 percent in the month in question.

“This year-on-year expansion is in line with the performance of the country’s manufactured goods exports, which grew 7.1 percent in April 2024, and in the in the month-to-month comparison, export-oriented industries fell 11.6 percent compared to the 11.0 percent growth in March 2024,” he said.
Meanwhile, domestically oriented industries continued to grow, recording 9.5 percent compared to 3.1 percent in March 2024, mainly driven by an encouraging growth of 20.2 percent in the manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers, and semi-trailers.

Mohd Uzir said the 10 percent jump in the mining sector was driven by double-digit growth of 14.9 percent in natural gas production, while crude oil and condensate output increased again by 3.5 percent.

IPP performance for the period January to April 2024 improved by 3.9 percent compared to 1.3 percent in the same period the previous year.

“During the period in question, all sectors recorded expansion, namely the mining index, the manufacturing index, and the electricity index,” he said.