KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 8 ― The sales value of the manufacturing sector registered a decline of four per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) to record RM147.4 billion in June 2023 after recording a growth of 3.3 per cent in the preceding month, said the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DoSM).
Chief statistician Datuk Seri Mohd Uzir Mahidin said in a statement today that the decline was primarily influenced by the food, beverages and tobacco sub-sector, which decreased by 14.6 per cent, marking three consecutive months of double-digit declines.
He said the deterioration was also attributable to the contraction in the petroleum, chemical, rubber and plastic (-12.4 per cent), as well as wood, furniture, paper products and printing (-1.1 per cent) sub-sectors.
On a month-on-month (m-o-m) comparison, he noted the sales value increased marginally by 0.4 per cent against RM146.8 billion in May.
On the sales value of export-oriented industries which accounted for 73 per cent of total sales, he said it dropped by 7.4 per cent in June after registering a marginal increase of 0.1 per cent in May.
The decrease was mainly due to the manufacture of vegetable and animal oils and fats (-27.4 per cent), manufacture of coke and refined petroleum products (-18.6 per cent) as well as manufacture of rubber products (-13.2 per cent), he said.
On the other hand, he highlighted that domestic-oriented industries continued to cushion the decline in sales value by sustaining a positive trajectory since September 2021, expanding by 6.8 per cent in June 2023 compared to a 12.5 per cent increase in May.
“The steady momentum was predominantly backed by the strong growth in sales value of the manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers by 10.5 per cent.
“Meanwhile, manufacture of food processing products; and manufacture of fabricated metal products, except machinery and equipment industries, sustained their positive momentum by registering 7.5 per cent and 7.4 per cent growth respectively,” he shared.
On a m-o-m basis, he said export-oriented industries increased by 2.4 per cent while domestic-oriented industries experienced a decrease of 4.6 per cent.
On the number of employees, the chief statistician said the manufacturing sector engaged 2.35 million persons in June, posted a 2.1 per cent increase compared to the 2.30 million persons recorded a year ago.
“The rise was mainly supported by the electrical and electronics products (3.4 per cent), wood, furniture, paper products and printing (1.8 per cent) and transport equipment and other manufactures (1.6 per cent) sub-sectors.
“In comparison to the preceding month, the number of employees in this sector decreased marginally by 0.4 per cent,” he shared.
On the same note, Mohd Uzir said the salaries and wages paid in the manufacturing sector also increased by three per cent y-o-y, amounting to RM8.0 billion in June while on m-o-m comparison, the salaries and wages declined by 0.6 per cent from RM8.1 billion recorded in May.
The average monthly salaries and wages per employee saw an increase of 0.9 per cent at RM3,432 while the sales value per employee dropped by 5.9 per cent to RM62,853, he shared.
In the second quarter of 2023 (2Q 2023), he noted the sales value of the manufacturing sector posted the first decrease since the second quarter of 2020 (-16.5 per cent), registering a negative one per cent compared to the same quarter of the previous year.
The decrease was attributed to the food, beverages and tobacco sub-sector (-12.7 per cent) as well as the petroleum, chemical, rubber and plastics sub-sector (-4.8 per cent).
Meanwhile, the number of employees and salaries and wages during the quarter grew modestly by 2.1 per cent (1Q 2023: 2.8 per cent) and 3.6 per cent (1Q 2023: 4.3 per cent) respectively, he said.
For the first half of 2023, he said the sales value of the manufacturing sector reached RM888.6 billion, 3.5 per cent higher than that of the same period in the preceding year.
“The number of employees increased by 2.1 per cent during this period, totalling 2.35 million persons while salaries and wages grew by four per cent, registering RM48.7 billion. Also, the sales value per employee was RM378,855 posting a growth of 1.4 per cent,” he added. ― Bernama