Malaysia registered increases in export and import activities in November 2014 compared to the same month of the previous year, but booked declines on a month-on-month basis, according to the latest data from the Department of Statistics.
Overseas shipments rose 2.1% to RM63.7 billion (US$17.9 billion) in November year-on-year. The increase in exports was mainly contributed by these products: electrical and electronic products, crude petroleum, and timber and timber-based products.
These products, however, posted declines: petroleum products, liquefied natural gas, palm oil and palm oil-based products, and natural rubber.
Exports registered an upturn due to the rise in deliveries to Singapore, the U.S., Japan, India, and Thailand, according to a media statement released by the agency.
On the import side, inward shipments went up in November by 0.1% to RM52.6 billion year-on-year, with intermediate goods contributing the most to the acceleration, followed by capital goods.
The higher imports were mainly contributed by suppliers from the European Union, Saudi Arabia, China, Kuwait, and Norway.
But month-on-month, exports fell by 2% in 2014 from RM65.1 billion, and imports also declined by 17.7% from RM63.9 billion.
Malaysia’s total trade for the period had a value of RM116.3 billion, an increase of 1.2% from the previous year. However, on a month-on-month basis, it decreased by 9.8%. Trade surplus, meanwhile, rose 12.6% to RM11.1 billion year-on-year, and 869.4% compared with the previous month.
For the period January-November 2014, the Southeast Asian economy racked up aggregate trade of RM1.323 trillion. Overall exports reached RM698.4 billion, and imports added up to RM624.5 billion.
Malaysia’s major trading partners for the first 11 months of 2014 were led by China, followed by Singapore, the EU, Japan, U.S., Thailand, Indonesia, Taiwan, South Korea, and Australia.
The department said trade with its peers in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) amounted to RM356.2 billion, of which RM195.4 billion were exports (representing 28% of the country’s whole exports) and RM160.8 billion were imports, for a 25.8% share of total imports.
Malaysia’s biggest trading partner in the region for January to November was Singapore (50.8% share of the country’s exports and 49% share of its imports), followed by Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, and the Philippines.
Photo: eutrophication&hypoxia
