.JPG "A general view of Port Klang ahead of the conditional movement control order in Klang October 8, 2020. u00e2u20acu201d Picture by Miera Zulyana")
KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 4 — The Malaysian manufacturing sector showed signs of stabilising last month, although conditions were still challenging, according to IHS Markit.
In IHS Markits’ Malaysian Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) report for December, the sector scored 49.1 — an increment of 0.7 from November.
"Malaysia’s manufacturers continued to report challenging conditions in December, with the Covid-19 pandemic not only hitting demand both at home and in key export markets, but also causing increasingly severe supply chain delays, especially for imported goods,” Chris Williamson, chief business economist at IHS Markit, said.
“Global shipping delays and shortages of inputs consequently acted as an additional constraint on production. Raw material prices have also spiked higher amid these global shortages, pushing manufacturers’ selling prices higher at a rate not seen for 32 months.”
However, manufacturers said that employment levels had risen to its highest since April, indicating a rise in demand.
Looking ahead, Malaysian manufacturers remained optimistic about output in 2021, with hopes of banking on the roll out of Covid-19 vaccines to help restore trading to more normal conditions.
Covid-19 infection levels were at their peak last month, with 2,525 new cases reported on Dec 31 — the highest number of new infections reported here in a day.
