KUALA LUMPUR: 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 per cent during the said quarter from 78.3 per cent in 2Q 2023.

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

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 per cent.

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

"Quarter-on-quarter, the capacity utilisation of the manufacturing industry rose by 1.3 percentage points from 80.8 per cent 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 per cent 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 per cent in 2Q 2024 from 77.4 per cent 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 per cent 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.