Malaysia's October industrial output rises 4.2 pct on year

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec. 12 (Xinhua) -- Malaysia's Industrial Production Index (IPI) increased by 4.2 percent in October, supported by the increase in all indices, according to official statistics released on Wednesday.

Malaysian Statistics Department said in a statement that the manufacturing sector index expanded 5.4 percent year-on-year in October after recording a growth of 4.8 percent in September.

The main sub-sectors that propel growth were transport equipment and other manufactures products that surged 10.1 percent; electrical and electronics products which jumped 7.1 percent and petroleum, chemical, rubber and plastic products that accelerated by 4.1 percent.

Meanwhile, the mining sector index rose 1.4 percent year-on-year, driven by the growth in natural gas and crude oil indices that went up 2.3 percent and 0.4 percent respectively.

The electricity sector recorded a growth rate of 2.1 percent in October.

In a separate statement, the department announced that the country's manufacturing sales surged 10.2 percent year-on-year to 73.1 billion ringgit (17.48 billion U.S. dollars) in October.

The growth was due to the increases in transport equipment and other manufactures products (13.3 percent), electrical and electronics products (11.5 percent) and petroleum, chemical, rubber and plastic products (11.5 percent).