KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's Industrial Production Index (IPI) in November 2011 edged up by 1.8 per cent compared with the same month in 2010 due to the increase in manufacturing and electricity index.

The IPI in October was revised to 2.9 per cent from 2.8 per cent year-on-year.

In a statement today, the Statistics Department said the increase in November 2011 IPI was due to the increase in the manufacturing and electricity indices of four per cent and 2.9 per cent respectively.

However, the mining index slipped 4.2 per cent.

On a month-on-month basis, the IPI fell 4.6 per cent while the cumulative index for the January to November 2011 period grew 1.2 per cent compared with the same period in 2010.

The higher manufacturing output in November was attributed mainly to the increases in these groups -- petroleum, chemical, rubber and plastics products (2.3 per cent); non-metallic mineral products, basic metal and fabricated metal products (12.4 per cent); and, food, beverages and tobacco products (12.9 per cent).

For the first 11 months of 2011, the growth was 4.6 per cent compared with the same period a year earlier, said the department.

On mining output, the decline was due to the decrease in the crude oil index of 6.2 per cent.

However, natural gas index increased marginally by 0.03 per cent.
For January to November, the mining sector declined 7.4 per cent compared with the same period last year.

For electricity output, an increase of 1.9 per cent was registered in the January-November period 2011 compared with January-November 2010. - BERNAMA