KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 21): Seven states have surpassed the national manufacturing industry capacity utilisation rate in the second quarter of 2024 (2Q 2024).

The nation’s manufacturing industry capacity utilisation increased by 3.8 percentage points year-on-year (y-o-y) to 82.1% during the said quarter from 78.3% in 2Q 2023.

According to the Statistics Department Malaysia (DOSM), the seven states which surpassed the overall national average are Labuan (94.3%), Terengganu (84.8%), Pahang (84.7%), Selangor (84.6%), Negeri Sembilan (84.4%), Melaka (83.5%), and Johor (83.3%).

Additionally, nearly all states registered a y-o-y increase in the capacity utilisation rate, except for Terengganu and Kelantan.

In a statement on Wednesday, chief statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said in 2Q 2024, all sub-sectors posted capacity utilisation of above 80%.

The highest rate was recorded by the transport equipment and other manufacturers sub-sector (86%); followed by textiles, wearing apparel, leather and footwear (82.8%); and non-metallic mineral products, basic metal and fabricated metal products (82.3%).

“Quarter-on-quarter, the capacity utilisation of the manufacturing industry rose by 1.3 percentage points from 80.8% in 1Q 2024.

“The higher capacity utilisation rate was also reflected in the expansion of the industrial production index for the manufacturing industry (4.9% y-o-y),” he said.

He said the capacity utilisation in the export-oriented industries increased by 3.9 percentage points y-o-y to 81.3% in 2Q 2024 from 77.4% in 2Q 2023, while the capacity utilisation in the domestic-oriented industries also expanded by 3.4 percentage points y-o-y to 83.7% in 2Q 2024.

Mohd Uzir added that low demand, material shortages, and ongoing machinery and equipment maintenance are the main factors affecting capacity utilisation in the manufacturing industry.

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