KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia’s trade surplus surged 151.6% year-on-year (y-o-y) to RM16.82 billion last month, the highest surplus ever recorded for the month of November.
The International Trade and Industry Ministry (MITI) said exports increased by 4.3% to RM84.43 billion compared with the same month last year, marking three consecutive months of y-o-y growth.
Meanwhile, imports fell 9% to RM67.61 billion and total trade shrank by 2% to RM152.04 billion, it said in a statement today.
For the first 11 months of 2020, total trade surplus recorded a double-digit growth of 23.1% to RM163.86 billion compared with the same period of 2019.
“Total trade was valued at RM1.606 trillion, a decline of 4.6%. Exports stood at RM885.02 billion, contracting by 2.6%, while imports decreased by 7% to RM721.16 billion,” MITI said.
Compared with October, total trade, exports, imports and trade surplus decreased by 5%, 7.3%, 1.9% and 24%, respectively.
On the better export performance for November, MITI said this was supported mainly by higher exports to the US, Singapore, China and Hong Kong.
Exports of manufactured goods contributed to 88.1% of total exports that month, rising by 8.1% y-o-y to RM74.34 billion.
“The growth was buoyed mainly by higher exports of electrical and electronic (E&E) products as well as rubber products,” it said.
It noted that exports of rubber products recorded resilient performance with 13 consecutive months of growth.
Higher exports were also registered for other manufactures especially solid-state storage devices (SSD), wood products as well as optical, scientific and equipment.
Meanwhile, exports of agriculture goods (6.7% share) increased by 6% to RM5.65 billion compared with a year ago, driven mainly by higher exports of palm oil and palm oil-based agriculture products.
Exports of mining goods (4.9% share) shrank by 34.6% y-o-y to RM4.15 billion following lower exports of liquefied natural gas, crude petroleum as well as petroleum condensates and other petroleum oil.
Trade with Asean, which constituted RM38.77 billion or 25.5% of Malaysia’s total trade last month, eased by 7.2% compared with November 2019.
Exports edged down by 2.2% to RM23.46 billion owing to lower exports of petroleum products, iron and steel products as well as machinery, equipment and parts.
“Exports of E&E products, which increased by 36.6% or RM2.6 billion, however cushioned the decline,” MITI said.
Meanwhile, imports from Asean dropped by 13.9% to RM15.31 billion.
Exports to China recorded a double-digit expansion of 13.2% to RM14.23 billion mainly on stronger exports of E&E products.
MITI said exports to the US recorded a double-digit growth for the sixth consecutive month in November, surging by 24.6% to RM9.76 billion thanks to growth in rubber, E&E and wood product exports. In contrast, imports contracted by 11.1% to RM5.66 billion.
Meanwhile, exports to the European Union continued to expand for the third straight month, expanding by 7.1% to RM6.89 billion contributed mainly by stronger exports of rubber products. Imports, however, shrank by 18.2% to RM4.75 billion.
The ministry said exports to Japan rebounded last month after four consecutive months of y-o-y contraction. Exports picked up by 3.5% to RM5.26 billion while imports dropped by 3.4% to RM5.44 billion.
“The (export) growth was contributed mainly by higher exports of rubber products, E&E products, crude petroleum, palm oil and palm oil-based agriculture products as well as optical and scientific equipment,” it said.
Exports to free trade agreement (FTA) partners amounted to RM58.04 billion, an increase of 3.6% as higher exports were recorded to Turkey (up 26.2%), followed by Pakistan (17.9%) New Zealand (12.4%), Chile (82.2%) and India (1.1%).
Imports from FTA partners contracted by 9.2% to RM44.73 billion. – Bernama, December 28, 2020
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