Malaysia March factory output up 4.6% y-o-y, meets forecast

[KUALA LUMPUR] Malaysia's industrial production in March rose 4.6 per cent from a year earlier, government data showed on Thursday, supported by strength in the manufacturing and mining sectors.

Output growth was in line with a 4.6 per cent annual rise forecast by a Reuters poll and slightly slower than the 4.7 per cent increase in February.

Manufacturing output rose 5.9 per cent year-on-year in March, helped by growth in the electrical and electronic products and wood products subsectors, data from the Statistics Department showed.

Electricity output, however, declined 0.2 per cent, the data showed.

Malaysia's exports rose 24.1 per cent in March from a year earlier, slowing from the previous month, but remained robust on higher shipments of manufactured goods and commodities.

Malaysian factory activity in April expanded for the first time in more than two years, supported by rises in output and new orders, the IHS Markit manufacturing purchasing managers'index showed.

REUTERS