KUALA LUMPUR, June 11 ― Malaysia’s Industrial Production Index (IPI) declined 32.0 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) in April 2020 due to the implementations of the Movement Control Order (MCO) to prevent Covid-19 outbreaks, the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DoSM) said.

In a statement today, the DoSM attributed the decline to the decrease in manufacturing (-37.2 per cent), mining (-19.6 per cent) and electricity (-19.2 per cent) indices.

It added that the manufacturing sector’s output dropped 37.2 per cent in April 2020 after recording a decline of 4.1 per cent in March 2020.

The major sub-sectors which contributed to the decline in the manufacturing sector's performance were non-metallic mineral products, basic metal and fabricated metal products (-62.7 per cent), electrical and electronics products (-34.1 per cent) and petroleum, chemical, rubber and plastic products (-21.4 per cent).

DoSM said the lower Manufacturing Index in April 2020 was contributed by the significant drop in the non-essential services industry and low capacity utilisation of below 50 per cent.

"The decline in the manufacturing sector was mainly weighed down by the drop in the export-oriented industries,” it said in a statement today.

DoSM added that the mining sector’s output dropped 19.6 per cent y-o-y in April 2020 due to the negative growth in crude oil and condensate (-20.2 per cent) and natural gas (-19.0 per cent) indices.

Meanwhile, the electricity sector output decreased by 19.2 per cent in April 2020 as compared to the same month of the previous year.

"Malaysia's Industrial Production Index is expected to improve in the coming months, as the government allowed more industries to resume operations in May 2020,” it said. ― Bernama