KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia maintained its impressive trade performance in January 2023 with trade, exports, and imports registering the highest monthly value for the month of January.
The International Trade and Industry Ministry (Miti) said in a statement today that trade expanded by 1.9% year-on-year (y-o-y) to RM207.51 billion, with exports rising by 1.6% to RM112.84 billion and 2.3% higher imports to RM94.67 billion.
Miti noted that the trade surplus amounted to RM18.16 billion, a decrease of 2.1%, which marked the 33rd consecutive month of trade surplus since May 2020.
“The export expansion was bolstered by strong exports of petroleum products, liquefied natural gas (LNG), as well as electrical and electronic (E&E) products.
“Exports to major trading partners, notably Asean and Japan, recorded double-digit growth. Compared with December 2022, trade, exports, imports, and trade surplus contracted by 11.8%, 14.4%, 8.6% and 35.5% respectively, due to shorter working days and long festive holidays,” it shared.
In January 2023, Miti said exports of manufactured goods, which accounted for 84.2% of total exports, decreased by 0.1% y-o-y to RM94.97 billion due to lower exports of manufactures of metal, rubber products, as well as iron and steel products.
On the other hand, expansion in exports was seen for petroleum products, E&E products, optical and scientific equipment, as well as beverages and tobacco. Collectively, exports of petroleum products and E&E products accounted for 52.2% of Malaysia’s total exports and rose by RM7.66 billion, it noted.
Miti also highlighted that exports of mining goods (9.1% share) soared by 50.1% y-o-y to RM10.23 billion, the 22nd successive month of double-digit growth led by higher exports of LNG, while exports of agriculture goods (6.2% share) declined by 19.8% to RM7.01 billion compared with January 2022 due to lower exports of palm oil and palm oil-based agriculture products.
On a month-on-month (m-o-m) basis, the ministry said exports of mining goods edged up by 5.8% while exports of manufactured and agriculture goods declined by 14% and 36.4%, respectively.
On trade with major markets in January, Miti said Asean contributed 26.6% to Malaysia’s total trade, rising by 5.6% y-o-y to RM55.26 billion with exports growing by 10.7% to RM34.1 billion, the 18th consecutive month of double-digit growth, underpinned by higher exports of petroleum products and E&E products.
Imports from Asean however declined by 1.8% to RM21.16 billion, it noted.
“Exports to Asean major markets that recorded increases were Singapore, which grew by RM2.86 billion on account of robust exports of E&E products, and Thailand up by RM431.4 million on the back of petroleum products exports.
“Compared with December 2022, trade, exports and imports dropped by 11.6%, 10.3%, and 13.6% respectively,” it said.
In January 2023, trade with China made up 17.8% of Malaysia’s total trade contracted by 7.9% y-o-y to RM37.01 billion.
“Exports to China were valued at RM14.98 billion, declining by 11.9% on lower exports of iron and steel products as well as petroleum products, but higher exports were recorded for chemicals and chemical products as well as E&E products.
“Imports from China slipped by 4.9% to RM22.03 billion. Compared with December 2022, trade, exports and imports reduced by 11.7%, 16.6%, and 8.1% respectively,” said Miti.
Trade with the United States in January 2023, which accounted for 9% of Malaysia’s total trade, rose by 1.2% y-o-y to RM18.72 billion with exports amounting to RM12.05 billion, a marginal decrease of 0.6% due to lower exports of iron and steel products as well as wood and rubber products.
However, it said the contraction was cushioned by higher exports of E&E products, petroleum products, as well as palm oil and palm oil-based agriculture products.
Imports from the US edged up by 4.7% to RM6.67 billion and on a m-o-m basis, trade, exports and imports shrank by 16.8%, 22% and 5.3% respectively, it said.
Trade with the European Union, which represented 8.2% of Malaysia’s total trade, grew by 3.5% y-o-y to RM17.09 billion with exports rising by 1.4% to RM9.35 billion, aided by robust exports of petroleum products, manufacturing of metal, as well as machinery, equipment and parts, while imports from the EU expanded by 6.1% to RM7.74 billion.
Trade with Japan, which comprised 6.8% of Malaysia’s total trade, rose by 8.8% y-o-y to RM14.09 billion, and exports increased by 13.2% to RM8.19 billion, the 23rd successive month of double-digit expansion contributed by higher exports of LNG, while imports expanded by 3.2% to RM5.9 billion.
As for trade with free trade agreement partners, which took up 68.2% of Malaysia’s total trade, Miti said it increased by 0.9% y-o-y to RM141.46 billion with exports rising by 3.9% to RM80.03 billion and imports slipping by 2.6% to RM61.44 billion.
Higher exports were recorded to Australia, which grew by 27.8% to RM3.63 billion, and exports to New Zealand surged by 176% to RM821 million, supported by strong exports of petroleum products, it said.
For imports performance in January 2023, Miti said the three main categories of imports for end use, which accounted for 70.3%, comprised intermediate goods, capital goods, and consumption goods.
“Intermediate goods, valued at RM48.56 billion or 51.3% of total imports, decreased by 3.9%, following lower imports of parts and accessories for non-transport capital goods.
“Capital goods, valued at RM9.7 billion or 10.2% of total imports, declined by 1.7%, due to lower imports of non-transport capital goods and consumption goods, valued at RM8.25 billion or 8.7% of total imports, slipped by 4.7%, as a result of lower imports of durables,” Miti added. – Bernama, February 20, 2023
