MALAYSIA’S Industrial Production Index (IPI) dropped 4.9% year-on-year (yoy) in March, the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DoSM) said.
In a statement today, the DoSM attributed the decline to the decrease in the manufacturing (-4.2%), mining (-6.5%) and electricity (-7.0%) indices.
It added that the manufacturing sector’s output dropped 4.2% in March 2020 after recording an increase of 6.2% in February 2020.
The major sub-sectors which contributed to the decline in the manufacturing sector’s performance were electrical and electronics products (-5.0%), non-metallic mineral products, basic metal and fabricated metal products (-9.8%) and food, beverages and tobacco (-9.9%).
DoSM added that the mining sector’s output dropped 6.5% yoy in March 2020 due to the negative growth in the natural gas index (-6.0%) and crude oil and condensate index (-7.1%).
Meanwhile, for the first quarter of 2020, the IPI recorded a growth of 0.4% yoy following a 1.3% increase in the manufacturing index, although the electricity and mining indices recorded a reduction of 0.4% yoy and 1.8% yoy, respectively. — May 12, 2020, Bernama
