KUALA LUMPUR, March 14 (Xinhua) -- Malaysia's industrial production index (IPI) in January increased by 3.2 percent year-on-year, official statistics showed Thursday.
Malaysian Statistics Department said in a statement that the growth was supported by the increase in the index of electricity and manufacturing, which grew 7.8 percent and 4.2 percent respectively.
The index of mining, however, fell 0.9 percent year-on-year, dragged by the decrease in the crude oil index.
The major sub-sectors which contributed positively to the manufacturing in January were non-metallic mineral products, basic metal and fabricated metal products, petroleum, chemical, rubber and plastic products as well as electrical and electronic equipment products.
In a separate statement, the department announced that manufacturing sales expanded 7 percent year-on-year to 72.5 billion ringgit (17.73 billion U.S. dollars) in January.
The growth was supported by the increase in petroleum, chemical, rubber and plastic products which jumped 9.2 percent, transport equipment and other manufacturer products that rose 7.7 percent, electrical and electronics products sales which increased by 6.3 percent.
