The Malaysian Industrial Production Index (IPI) for November 2005 rose 6.7 percent to 249.1 on a year-on-year basis, according to the Department of Statistics.

The higher index was brought about by the positive growth in the indices of the manufacturing sector, which was up 8.9 percent to 282.7, and the electricity sector, up 5.1 percent to 261.1, the department said in the latest statement.

However, the index of the mining sector decreased 4.4 percent to 138.3.

Compared with October 2005, the IPI for November edged up 0.1 percent. The expansion was solely due to the increase in the index of the manufacturing sector by 1.5 percent.

For the first 11 months of 2005, the IPI expanded by 4 percent to 238.1 compared with the corresponding period of 2004.

The indices of all sectors recorded positive changes. The electricity sector was up 5.9 percent to 276.4, the manufacturing sector up 4.4 percent to 265.3, and the mining sector up 0.3 percent to 138.5.

The IPI is the measure of the rate of change in the production of industrial commodities in real terms over time. These commodities are obtained from the manufacturing, mining and electricity sectors.

Source: Xinhua