MALAYSIA: Plastics industry seen growing at slow pace

MPMA President Lim Kok Boon said for the first six months of 2012, the Malaysian plastics industry registered total turnover of RM8 billion, “comparable to the first six months of 2011.”

“The stagnancy was due to the sluggish domestic market.

“The electrical and electronics industry, an important sub-sector to the plastics industry, was largely flat while there was a mild decline in the automotive sector,” he said.

Exports registered a marginal growth of 1.2%, from RM4.99 billion in the first six months of 2011 to RM5.05 billion in the first six months of 2012, he said. Lim noted that exports accounted for 63% of the total plastic products manufactured.

“The total exports to total turnover ratio shows a rising trend over the last three years, growing from 56% in 2009 to 59% in 2010 and to 62% in 2011, owing to the efforts by our members to promote the export business into the huge global market rather than just depending on the smaller
domestic market.

“We have been able to achieve the high export total turnover ratio because our members have moved up the value chain to focus more on quality,” he said at the opening of the sixth MPMA
International Plastic Conference in Kuala Lumpur - Bernama

Source: Daily "The Star", Kuala Lumpur, through "Bernama" (Malaysian National News Agency); 3 Oct 2012

(Syed Rashid Ali, Karachi, Pakistan)