KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia recorded a trade surplus of RM10.26 billion in June which was 71 percent higher compared to the same month of the previous year and marking the 260th consecutive month of trade surplus since November 1997.
“On a month-on-month (m-o-m) basis, the trade surplus recorded a double-digit growth of 13.1 percent, while total trade, exports and imports were down by 10.8 percent, 9.5 percent and 12.2 percent respectively,” the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (Miti) said in a
statement.
However, Malaysia’s trade in June contracted by six percent from the same month of 2018 to RM142.08 billion.
According to Miti, exports were down by 3.1 percent to RM76.17 billion, with imports 9.2 percent lower at RM65.91 billion.
It said lower trade was recorded with China, Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore and Japan.
In contrast, higher trade was recorded with India, the Philippines and the United States.
For the six months of 2019, total trade decreased by one percent to RM895.95 billion compared to the same period of 2018, while exports declined 0.2 percent to RM481.53 billion and imports shrank by 1.8 percent to RM414.42 billion.
For second quarter alone, trade was 0.4 lower at RM460.78 billion with imports dropping 1.2 percent to RM215.32 billion, while in contrast, exports were 0.2 percent better at RM245.46 billion.
Miti said exports of
manufactured goods in June, which accounted for 83.7 percent of total exports, declined five percent to RM63.79 billion, impacted by lower exports of electrical and electronic products (E&E), manufactures of metal, machinery, equipment and parts, rubber products and wood products.
Exports of agriculture goods (6.3 percent share) declined by 0.8
percent to RM4.82 billion despite an increase in exports of palm oil and palm oil-based agriculture products, primarily palm oil, which rose by 7.9 percent to RM2.83 billion following higher volume.
As for major exports in June, electrical and electronics (E&E) products valued at RM28.08 billion
constituted 36.9 percent of total exports, an increase of six percent from June 2018.
Petroleum products at RM6.10 billion and eight percent of total exports, decreased by 2.4 percent.
Chemicals and chemical products registered RM4.57 billion or six percent of total exports, an increase of 1.3 percent and manufactures of metal recorded RM3.37 billion or 4.4 percent of total exports, decreased by 15.7 percent.
On the trade performance with major markets, Malaysia’s trade with Asean in June accounted for 26.5 percent of the country’s total trade and slipped 5.5 percent year-on-year to RM37.65 billion.
Exports to Asean dropped 0.2 percent to RM21.78 billion on the back of lower exports of E&E, petroleum products, transport equipment and processed food.
Imports from Asean decreased by 11.9 percent to RM15.87 billion.
In June, trade with China which comprised 16.5 percent of Malaysia’s total trade or RM23.51 billion, saw a dip of 12.4 percent y-o-y.
Exports totalled RM10.07 billion, decreasing by 12 percent due to lower exports of E&E products, and the manufacture of metal as
well as petroleum products.
Imports from China contracted by 12.6 percent to RM13.44 billion.
Total trade with the European Union (EU) which accounted for 9.9 percent of Malaysia’s total trade in June, slipped by 2.9 percent y-o-y to RM14.12 billion.
Exports increased by one percent to RM7.74 billion, underpinned by higher exports of petroleum products and palm oil-based manufactured products.
Trade with the United States in June grew by 5.8 percent y-o-y to RM12.8 billion, constituting nine percent of Malaysia’s total trade. Exports registered a 8.8 percent to RM7.65 billion and imports rose 1.7 percent to RM5.16 billion. – Bernama
