Malaysia’s trade records in the first half of the year showed positive results as both exports and imports turned in a strong performance, according to the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI).
In June, total trade increased by 7% to RM136.26 billion (US$31.81 billion), up from RM127.38 billion year-over-year. Expansion was supported mainly by trade with China, India, Japan, EU, ASEAN, U.S., Taiwan, and South Korea, said an MITI statement.
Exports in June expanded by 10% to RM73.07 billion, while imports grew by 3.7% to RM63.19 billion. The trade surplus of RM9.88 billion marked the 236th consecutive month of trade surplus since November 1997 and the highest value of trade surplus since April 2016.
Total trade in the second quarter (Q2) of 2017 amounted to RM428.66 billion, an expansion of 19.9% from Q2 2016. Total exports reached RM226.36 billion, 20.6% higher than the same period last year, and imports increased by 19.1% to RM202.31 billion. A trade surplus of RM24.05 billion was recorded for Q2 2017 compared to RM17.86 billion registered in Q2 2016.
In the first half (H1) of 2017, Malaysia’s total trade rose by 22% to RM859.17 billion from RM704 billion recorded in H1 2016. Exports increased by 21% to RM451.05 billion, and imports expanded by 23.3% to RM408.12 billion. A trade surplus of RM42.93 billion was recorded for H1 2017 compared to RM41.79 billion in H1 2016.
Exports of manufactured goods for June 2017 grew by 7.4% to RM59.63 billion and contributed 81.6% to Malaysia’s total exports. This was boosted by higher exports of electrical and electronic (E&E) products, iron and steel products, rubber products, as well as transport equipment.
Exports of mining goods in June 2017 accounted for 9.3% of Malaysia’s total exports, increased from 7.3% in June 2016. Exports of mining goods expanded by 40.3% to RM6.77 billion. This was the sixth straight month where exports of mining goods recorded double digit year-on-year growth.
Exports of agriculture goods increased by 7.7% to RM5.97 billion and constituted 8.2% of Malaysia’s total exports. This was steered by higher exports of palm oil and palm oil-based agriculture products especially palm oil, led by both higher AUV and volume.
In H1 2017, exports of manufactured goods expanded by 19.1% to RM368.12 billion. Higher exports were recorded for E&E products, petroleum products, chemicals and chemical products, rubber products, as well as iron and steel product.
Exports of mining goods rose by 32.5% to RM39.52 billion, mainly due to increased exports of crude petroleum and LNG, underpinned by higher AUV and volume.
Exports of agriculture goods increased by 23.6% to RM38.99 billion, with higher exports of palm oil, also due to higher AUV and export volume.
Meanwhile, trade with ASEAN grew by 2.6% to reach a value of RM36.29 billion, and accounted for 26.6% of Malaysia’s total trade in June 2017. Exports expanded by 1.9% to RM20.36 billion, while imports rose by 3.6% to RM15.93 billion.
The increase in exports was attributed to higher exports of E&E products, transport equipment, machinery, equipment and parts as well as rubber products, said the agency.
In H1 2017, trade with ASEAN soared by 21.4% to reach RM234.27 billion. Exports to ASEAN expanded by 19.9% to RM131.94 billion, buoyed by higher exports of E&E products, petroleum products, chemicals and chemical products, crude petroleum as well as machinery, equipment and parts, while imports from ASEAN increased by 23.5% to RM102.33 billion.
Photo: aln
