August industrial output falls 5.7% on-year

Written by Joseph Chin
Monday, 12 October 2009 14:00

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's industrial output fell in August, to 5.7% from a year ago, the first time in five months, due to declines in the manufacturing and mining sectors.

The Statistics Department said on Monday, Oct 12 that month-on-month, the industrial production index (IPI) decreased 1.1%. The cumulative index for the period of January-August 2009 declined 11.2% as against the same period in 2008.

"The IPI in August 2009 decreased 5.7% as compared with August 2008, follows a 8.1% (revised) year-on-year decline in July 2009," it said.

The decline in August 2009 was due to the decreases in manufacturing (6.6%) and mining (5.5%). However, the index of electricity rose 3.9%.

Manufacturing output in August 2009 dropped 6.6% as against August 2008. Output for July 2009 fell by 11.3% (revised) from a year ago.

But compared with July, the output for August 2009 increased 1.0%. The growth for the first eight months of 2009 was lower by 14.8% as compared with the same period of last year.

The manufacturing output decline due to decreases in wood products, furniture, paper products, printing (15.3%); electrical and electronics products (15.1%); and food, beverages and tobacco (5.3%).

Mining saw output decline 5.4% in August 2009 from a year ago due to the decreases in crude oil index (6.6%) and natural gas index (2.1%). When compared with July, mining output decreased to 5.8%. For the first eight months of 2009, the mining sector recorded a decline of 7.1% as compared with the previous corresponding same period a year ago.

Electricity output increased 3.9% in August 2009 from a year ago. When compared with July, electricity output decreased 0.8%. A decrease of 2.8% was registered in the period of January-August 2009 as compared with a year ago.