PETALING JAYA: The manufacturing sector’s sales value reached RM146.2 billion in February 2024, registering a marginal increase of 0.7% year-on-year, according to Chief Statistician Malaysia Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin.
“The sales value of the manufacturing sector increased marginally by 0.7% to RM146.2 billion in February 2024 as against 3.2% registered in the previous month. The increase was supported by an expansion in the transport equipment & other manufactures at 7.3%; and the non-metallic mineral products, basic metal & fabricated metal products (5.7%) sub-sectors. Meanwhile, the sales value of the electrical & electronics products sub-sector, which accounted for 34.1% of the total sales grew by 1.3%,” he said.
On a month-on-month basis, the manufacturing sector’s sales value declined by 4.3% from RM152.7 billion recorded in January, which experienced an uptick of 1.9%.
The sales value of export-oriented industries which represented 69.6% of total sales declined by 1.3% in February (January: 0.1%), largely attributable to the continuous contraction in the manufacture of coke & refined petroleum products, which registered a negative 8.8%. Additionally, the manufacture of vegetable & animal oils & fats; and the manufacture of chemicals & chemical products slipped by 6.0% and negative 2.6%, respectively.
Compared to the preceding month, the sales value of export-oriented industries dropped by 3.6% after recording a positive growth of 1.7% in January 2024.
In the meantime, the momentum of sales value for domestic-oriented industries remained positive, expanding by 5.6% in February (January: 10.8%).
The expansion was primarily bolstered by increases registered in the manufacture of fabricated metal products, except machinery & equipment (9.1%); manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers & semi-trailers (9.0%); and manufacture of food processing (5.2%). Compared to the previous month, the sales value of domestic-oriented industries decreased by 5.8% compared to the positive 2.3% recorded in January.
As to number of employees, Mohd Uzir said, “The manufacturing sector engaged 2.37 million persons in February 2024, an increase of 0.6% as compared to the 2.35 million persons registered in February 2023. The addition was mainly contributed by the food, beverages & tobacco (4.3%); textile, wearing apparel, leather & footwear (1.7%); and non-metallic mineral products, basic metal & fabricated metal products (1.4%) sub-sectors. In comparison to January 2024, the number of employees in this sector continued to decline, registering a drop of 0.3% (January 2024: -0.1%).”
On the same note, salaries and wages paid posted an increase of 1.0% year-on-year, amounting to RM8.2 billion in February. However, salaries and wages paid declined by 1.3% as against RM8.4 billion registered in the preceding month. Furthermore, the sales value per employee recorded a slight increase of 0.04% to reach RM61,820. Meanwhile, the average salaries and wages per employee in February 2024 was RM3,485, up by 0.3% year-on year.
Summarising the manufacturing sector’s performance up to February, Mohd Uzir said, “The sales value of the manufacturing sector achieved RM298.9 billion, increased by 1.9% as against the first two months of 2023 (January – February 2023: 8.3%). During the period, the number of employees increased by 0.6% to record a total of 2.37 million persons while salaries and wages grew by 1.5% to RM16.6 billion. Moreover, the sales value per employee registered an increase of 1.3%, amounting to RM126,389.”