Chart of the Day: Holiday bugs distorted manufacturing sector's output

It dropped by 16.6%.

According to CIMB, YoY, Feb 13’s MPI (manufacturing production index) declined a worse-than-expected 16.6% thanks to a combination of an unfavourable base and the timing of the Lunar New Year festivities. 

That the biggest yoy decline since Mar 09’s -32.2%, and outside estimate of -14.0% yoy, and well below consensus’s -7.9% yoy.

Here's more from CIMB:

The shift in the CNY festivities and the volatility of drug output make it hard to forecast Feb MPI, as illustrated by the wide range of forecasts (-17.6% yoy to +0.5% yoy).

Holiday-related distortions caused output from all key manufacturing cluster to decline on yoy basis. Tech plunged 21.1% yoy, the most since Jan 12’s -28.4% yoy while a 20.3% fall in drugs caused biomed output to contract 18.0% yoy.