KUALA LUMPUR (March 1): The health of Malaysia’s goods-producing economy deteriorated for a fifth successive month during February, with continued declines seen in both output and new orders.

The Nikkei Malaysia Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index registered 47.6 in February, down from 47.9 in January, thereby pointing to a sharper deterioration in manufacturing sector business conditions.

Latest data extended the current downturn in the goods-producing economy to five months, said IHS Markit in a statement today.

“Intakes of new work fell during February, with firms attributing this to a general market slowdown causing existing client demand to decline.

“The decrease was marked overall and among the strongest seen across the near seven-year survey history,” added the data and analytics firm.

“February data pointed to a sustained contraction of Malaysia’s manufacturing economy, reflecting further falls in production and sales,” said IHS Markit economist Joe Hayes.

Hayes said new orders decreased at one of the strongest rates across the survey history, as panellists reported unfavourable underlying demand.

“Near-term manufacturing prospects appear downbeat, as firms opted to leave workforce numbers unchanged, scaled back input buying sharply and reduced inventories, suggesting that firms are bracing themselves for continued production cutbacks,” he said.