If it weren't for this culprit, industrial production growth would be 3.3%

This segment plunged 14.3%.

According to Maybank Kim Eng, industrial production (IP) in Jan 2013 fell -0.4% YoY (revised Dec 2012: +1.3% YoY; Maybank-KE: +2.8% YoY; Consensus +5.2% YoY) on decline in Biomedical manufacturing cluster that was dragged by Pharmaceuticals.

Excluding Biomedical output, IP grew by +3.3% YoY (Dec 2012: -2.8% YoY). From the previous month, IP growth was down by -14.6% MoM (Dec 2012:+14.3% MoM) while the seasonally adjusted data was recorded at -9.2% MoM (Dec 2012: +6.6% MoM).

Here's more from Maybank Kim Eng:

The volatile performance of drug output weighed down on the overall index. The Biomedical cluster fell by -14.3% YoY (Dec 2012: +19.4% YoY) as Pharmaceutical output which accounts for 14.9% of the overall IP declined by -20.0% YoY (Dec 2012: +20.9% YoY) on lower production of active pharmaceutical ingredients.

This offset the seventh consecutive month of increase in Medical Technology (Jan 2013: +22.2% YoY; Dec 2012: +11.8% YoY) that reflected higher external demand for medical devices.

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