Friday, April 9, 2004
Malaysia February industrial output rises 11%
Reuters Kuala Lumpur, April 8
Malaysia's industrial output grew 11.1 per cent in the year ended February, boosted by a booming manufacturing sector amid robust global demand for electronics, official data showed on Thursday.
The manufacturing index, which accounts for more than two-thirds of industrial output and a third of gross domestic product, was up 11.9 per cent on a year earlier, the Department of Statistics said.
The expansion came hot on the heels of data last week showing Malaysian exports grew 16.7 per cent in the year ended February on the back of a 32 per cent jump in sales to China.
"This is in line with the increased exports and the broad-based recovery," said Dominique Dwor-Frecaut, economist at Barclays Capital Research.
The department also revised upwards January output, saying it was 19.7 per cent higher than a year earlier, but did not give reasons for the change. The earlier figure of 16.7 per cent output growth in the year ended January was already the fastest in over three years.
"Because of the very strong January growth, we expect a bit of moderation in February. It came in slightly below market consensus, but the underlying trend is still intact," said Song Seng Wun, economist at GK Goh in Singapore.
"On a three-month moving average, industrial production grew 15 per cent, more than double the seven per cent growth a year ago," he said.
Malaysia has posted double-digit growth in industrial output since October as global electronics demand rose.
The industrial production index measures manufacturing, mining and electricity output.
The mining sector was up 6.4 per cent in February on a year earlier, and electricity was up 10.4 per cent.
Rising global demand -- led by the United States and China -- is driving up manufacturing production in most Asian economies.
Neighbouring Singapore's manufacturing output jumped 38.3 per cent in the year ended February.
A 24.3 per cent rise in Malaysian imports in the year ended February also bodes well for industrial output as about three-quarters of imports are fed into factories making electronic goods for export.
Song said the output and export growth would underpin strong economic growth in the first quarter.
"We're looking at a GDP growth of seven to 7.5 per cent in Q1," he said. The central bank has projected that Malaysia's economic growth would accelerate to six to 6.5 per cent this year from 5.2 per cent in 2003.
For the January-February period, industrial output was up 14.6 per cent on the same period in 2003, the department said.
© Hindustan Times Ltd. 2004.