Manufacturing sales value declined to RM145bil in April

The manufacturing sector sales value declined by two % year-on-year (y-o-y) to RM145 billion in April 2023, the lowest since May 2020, said the Department of Statistics, Malaysia (DoSM).

DoSM said the decline was influenced mainly by the deterioration in food, beverages and tobacco (12.7 %); transport equipment and other manufactures (4.9 %); and petroleum, chemical, rubber and plastics (3.1 %) sub-sectors.

"In comparison with the previous month, the sales value returned to a decline with negative 7.2 % against an increase of 7.6 % registered in March 2023," it said.

According to the department, the sales value of export-oriented industries which accounted for 71.5 % of total sales recorded a decrease of 3.4 % in April 2023 after registering positive momentum since May 2020.

"The contraction was weighed down mainly by the manufacture of vegetable and animal oils and fats (-23.2 %); manufacture of rubber products (-14.2 %); and manufacture of plastics products (-7.1 %) industries.

"Nonetheless, the domestic-oriented industries maintained a positive trend with a growth of 1.6 % in April 2023 y-o-y, primarily underpinned by the manufacture of fabricated metal products, except machinery and equipment (5.5 %); manufacture of other non-metallic mineral products (4.6 %); and the manufacture of food processing products (3.4 %) industries.

"In comparison with the previous month, both export and domestic-oriented industries lessened by 7.2 %," it added.

Meanwhile, DoSM highlighted a total of 2.35 million persons engaged in the manufacturing sector in April 2023, which increased by 2.5 % against 2.29 million persons registered a year ago.

"The increase was supported mainly by the food, beverages and tobacco products (5.6 %); electrical and electronic products (4.2 %); and wood, furniture, paper products and printing (2.7 %) sub-sectors.

"Compared to the preceding month, the number of employees in this sector edged down by 0.1 %,” said the department.

In tandem with the increase in employees, DoSM said the salaries and wages paid in the manufacturing sector went up by 3.9 % y-o-y, amounting to RM8.02 billion in April.

The average monthly salaries and wages per employee in April were higher by 1.4 % y-o-y at RM3,413 while the sales value per employee decreased by 4.4 % y-o-y to RM61,716, it said.