Malaysia: Decline in industrial output softens in June
Industrial output slid 0.4% in year-on-year terms in June, which was notably above May’s 21.6% decrease and suggests a stabilization in the industrial sector falling the sharp downturn sparked by fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic.
June’s smaller drop was largely due to a turnaround in manufacturing output, which returned to growth, and less pronounced falls in the mining and quarrying and electricity and gas generation outputsectors.
On a seasonally-adjusted monthly basis, factory output rose at a faster rate of 26.2% in June (May: +15.3% mom), the best result on record. Meanwhile, the trend pointed down, with the annual average variation of industrial production coming in at minus 3.6%, down from May’s minus 3.3%.