Overview

The capacity utilisation of the Manufacturing industry reached 80.8 per cent in the first quarter of 2024

The Manufacturing industry operated at 80.8 per cent of capacity in the first quarter of 2024, an improvement of 1.0 percentage points from the 79.8 per cent capacity rate recorded a year ago. This higher capacity rate resulted in a 2.1 per cent year-on-year increase in the Industrial Production Index for the Manufacturing industry during the quarter. Almost all sub-sectors posted an increase in capacity utilisation, particularly in the Non-metallic mineral products, basic metal & fabricated metal products; and Wood products, furniture, paper products & printing sub-sectors, which increased by 4.4 percentage points to 83.3 per cent and 79.6 per cent, respectively. On a quarter-on-quarter comparison, the capacity utilisation of the Manufacturing industry expanded by 0.9 percentage points from the rate of 79.9 per cent registered in the previous quarter. 

The increased capacity utilisation rate in the first quarter of 2024 was attributable to the performance in January (80.9%) and March (81.6%), with both exceeding 80 per cent. Meanwhile, the capacity utilisation rate for February 2024 stood at 79.8 per cent. In addition, factors such as low demand; insufficient supply of materials; and the repair & maintenance of machinery & equipment remained the cause of under-utilisation of capacity in the Manufacturing industry.

In the first quarter of 2024, four sub-sectors operated at a capacity utilisation rate above 80.0 per cent. Notably, the sub-sector of Manufacture of transport equipment & other manufactures recorded the highest rate at 85.0 per cent, an increase of 1.0 percentage points year-on-year. This was followed by the Non-metallic mineral products, basic metals & fabricated metal products sub-sector, with a rate of 83.3 per cent, up by 4.4 percentage points. Conversely, the lowest rate of 78.4 per cent was recorded by the Manufacture of food, beverages & tobacco products; and the Manufacture of electrical & electronic products sub-sectors.

The capacity utilisation in the export-oriented industries turned upward during this quarter, rising by 0.1 percentage points year-on-year to 79.4 per cent. Most of the industries in this segment registered higher utilisation rates, with the Manufacture of furniture experiencing a substantial increase of 7.7 percentage points, reaching 88.0 per cent. Nonetheless, four industries recorded a decrease in capacity utilisation, thus weighing down the increases in this segment, namely Manufacture of chemicals & chemical products (-1.3 percentage points; 78.7%); Manufacture of computer, electronics & optical products (-1.1 percentage points; 77.3%); Manufacture of electrical equipment (-0.5 percentage points; 80.5%); and Manufacture of plastics products (-0.3 percentage points; 80.1%). In comparison with the previous quarter, the capacity utilisation rate in the export-oriented industries went up by 0.9 percentage points from 78.5 per cent.

In addition, the domestic-oriented industries registered a capacity utilisation rate of 83.7 per cent in the first quarter of 2024, expanding by 2.8 percentage points as compared to the same quarter of the preceding year. The highest increment was registered by the Manufacture of other non-metallic mineral products with 8.5 percentage points, achieving 85.9 per cent. Nevertheless, only the Manufacture of food processing products recorded a decline to register a rate of 83.1 per cent. As compared to the fourth quarter of 2023, domestic-oriented industries were up by 0.8 percentage points from 82.9 per cent.

Four states demonstrated capacity utilisation rates surpassing the national rate in the first quarter of 2024, namely WP Labuan (95.9%), Negeri Sembilan (84.9%), Selangor (83.1%) and Johor (81.0%). Nearly all states registered a year-on-year increase in capacity utilisation rate, except for five states namely Kedah, Kelantan, Melaka, Sarawak and WP Kuala Lumpur (including WP Putrajaya). Furthermore, Kelantan recorded the lowest capacity utilisation rate at 69.7 per cent, mainly influenced by the Manufacture of food products industry.

The full publication of the Manufacturing Industry Capacity Utilisation, first quarter of 2024 can be downloaded through eStatistik portal.

Released by:

DEPARTMENT OF STATISTICS MALAYSIA

21 May 2024

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