KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 7 — The Industrial Production Index (IPI) increased by 4.6 per cent year-on-year in December, driven by expansion across all sectors, according to the Statistics Department (DOSM).
Chief statistician Datuk Seri Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the growth was supported by the manufacturing sector, which rose by 4.6 per cent, outperforming the 3.6 per cent recorded in November.
“At the same time, the mining sector recovered with a positive growth of 0.4 per cent (November 2024: -0.8 per cent), while the electricity sector grew by 3.5 per cent (November 2024: 3.9 per cent),” he said in a statement.
On a month-on-month (m-o-m) basis, he noted the IPI declined by 0.4 per cent from a 0.6 per cent growth in the previous month.
In the fourth quarter of 2024, Uzir said the IPI grew at a slower rate of 3.4 per cent compared with 3.9 per cent recorded in the third quarter, mainly driven by the manufacturing and the electricity sectors.
For the full year, the IPI expanded by 3.8 per cent in 2024, a significant improvement from 0.7 per cent in 2023, supported by positive growth in all sectors.
Meanwhile, the unit price index of cement improved by 0.2 per cent and 2.9 per cent m-o-m across most regions in Malaysia in January 2025 with the highest increase recorded in Sandakan (2.9 per cent), followed by Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Melaka and Negeri Sembilan (1.2 per cent), Uzir said.
Conversely, the unit price index of steel declined by 0.6 per cent to 4.3 per cent across most regions in January, with Pahang seeing the steepest drop (-4.3 per cent), followed by Sandakan (-2.8 per cent) and Perak (-2.2 per cent), he said.
“Additionally, the steel and metal section’s unit price index fell between -0.2 per cent and -2.7 per cent in January 2025. The average price per tonne of steel, including mild steel round bars and Mycon 60 high-tensile deformed bars, declined by 0.7 per cent to RM3,563.76, down from RM3,588.31 in December 2024,” he added.
— Bernama
