Malaysian industrial production likely to have grown soundly in March, says DBS Bank

Malaysia’s exports rose sharply in March. The sharp rise might imply good showing in industrial output for the month, noted DBS Bank in a research report. The March exports figure had surged 24.1 percent year-on-year. This is after an already exceptionally rapid growth of 26.6 percent in the earlier month that also happens to be the most robust in seven years.

Other than technical factors such as base and price effects, there are other fundamental reasons for the ongoing robust export performance. Exports of crude petroleum and refined petroleum products had risen 74.1 percent and 52.8 percent respectively. The additional capacity from the Malikai oilfield is also a main driver for the robust exports of energy products.

Beyond commodities, exports of electronics were up 21.2 percent year-on-year, supported by the rebound in global demand. All the factors are likely to indicate towards a promising showing in the overall manufacturing sector, stated DBS Bank.

“A forecast of 5.0 percent YoY for the month has been pencilled in. This is up from 4.7 percent and 3.5 percent from the past two months”, added DBS Bank.