July 6 (Bloomberg) -- Malaysia's production growth probably accelerated in May amid rising overseas demand for the country's manufactured goods, such as machinery and scientific equipment.
Production at factories, utilities and mines expanded 1.3 percent from a year ago after rising 0.4 percent in April, according to the median estimate of 19 economists in a Bloomberg survey. The Putrajaya-based Statistics Department will release the figure at 12:01 p.m. on July 9.
``We have seen decent pickup in electrical and electronics exports in May,'' said Gundy Cahyadi, an economist at Ideaglobal in Singapore. ``This should translate to some improvement in the manufacturing numbers.''
Rising overseas sales will benefit companies such as semiconductor assemblers Malaysian Pacific Industries Bhd. and Unisem (M) Bhd. That may help buoy Southeast Asia's third- largest economy after first-quarter growth cooled to 5.3 percent, the slowest quarterly pace in six. Manufactured goods account for almost four-fifths of Malaysia's overseas sales.
Malaysia's exports expanded at the fastest pace in four months in May, as orders for manufactured goods increased and commodities shipments rose. Overseas sales of electrical and electronics goods posted the smallest drop in four months.
The manufacturing industry may grow by about 8 percent in 2007 from 7 percent last year, helped by rising demand for electronics and telecommunications products, Paul Low, vice president of the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers, said yesterday. Low's estimate is higher than the central bank's forecast of 6.6 percent.
Malaysia's industrial production and exports declined in February and March as Lunar New Year holidays disrupted work and overseas demand for electronics weakened.
``The recovery of U.S. manufacturing in May is still not as desirable as we had expected,'' said Ideaglobal's Cahyadi. ``It's likely that growth in the manufacturing sector would still lag behind that of mining and electricity.''
Manufacturing, which accounts for more than 30 percent of Malaysia's $147 billion economy, expanded 1.7 percent in the first quarter, less than half the 4 percent pace in the previous three months.
Production at factories, utilities and mines expanded 1.3 percent from a year ago after rising 0.4 percent in April, according to the median estimate of 19 economists in a Bloomberg survey. The Putrajaya-based Statistics Department will release the figure at 12:01 p.m. on July 9.
``We have seen decent pickup in electrical and electronics exports in May,'' said Gundy Cahyadi, an economist at Ideaglobal in Singapore. ``This should translate to some improvement in the manufacturing numbers.''
Rising overseas sales will benefit companies such as semiconductor assemblers Malaysian Pacific Industries Bhd. and Unisem (M) Bhd. That may help buoy Southeast Asia's third- largest economy after first-quarter growth cooled to 5.3 percent, the slowest quarterly pace in six. Manufactured goods account for almost four-fifths of Malaysia's overseas sales.
Malaysia's exports expanded at the fastest pace in four months in May, as orders for manufactured goods increased and commodities shipments rose. Overseas sales of electrical and electronics goods posted the smallest drop in four months.
The manufacturing industry may grow by about 8 percent in 2007 from 7 percent last year, helped by rising demand for electronics and telecommunications products, Paul Low, vice president of the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers, said yesterday. Low's estimate is higher than the central bank's forecast of 6.6 percent.
Malaysia's industrial production and exports declined in February and March as Lunar New Year holidays disrupted work and overseas demand for electronics weakened.
``The recovery of U.S. manufacturing in May is still not as desirable as we had expected,'' said Ideaglobal's Cahyadi. ``It's likely that growth in the manufacturing sector would still lag behind that of mining and electricity.''
Manufacturing, which accounts for more than 30 percent of Malaysia's $147 billion economy, expanded 1.7 percent in the first quarter, less than half the 4 percent pace in the previous three months.
