KUALA LUMPUR, May 19 (Xinhua) -- Malaysia's manufacturing industry operated with capacity utilization of 79.6 percent in the first quarter of 2023, lower by 1.5 percentage points as compared to 81.1 percent a year ago, official data showed Friday.
The downturn was primarily attributable to decreases in almost all sub-sectors except for transport equipment & other manufactures, the Department of Statistics Malaysia said in a statement.
In comparison with the previous quarter, the capacity utilization of the manufacturing industry continued to trend down for two consecutive quarters with negative 0.6 percentage points.
Capacity utilization refers to a ratio of actual output produced to the production of output at full capacity through an optimal combination of machinery, raw materials and labor.
The capacity utilization of the manufacturing industry between 2015 and 2022 was in the range of 69.8 percent to 80.4 percent. ■