KUALA LUMPUR, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- Malaysia's manufacturing sales in August grew 6.8 percent year on year to 126.5 billion ringgit (about 30.32 billion U.S. dollars), Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) said on Tuesday.
The growth in sales value for the month was driven by the petroleum, chemical, rubber and plastic products subsector which rose 31.4 percent; food, beverages and tobacco subsector which climbed 7 percent; and the electrical and electronics products subsector which expanded 6.9 percent, said the department in a statement.
Sales value for export-oriented industries, which accounted for 75.3 percent of total sales value, increased by 14.3 percent year on year to 95.2 billion ringgit.
According to the DOSM, the growth of sales value for export-oriented industries was in line with the double-digit growth registered in the external trade exports and the price factors that remain favorable.
For the period of January to August, the sales value of the manufacturing sector increased by 15.5 percent to 992.4 billion ringgit as compared to a year ago. Enditem
