M’sian exports on firm recovery, says research house

KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia’s exports recovery remained firm in November amid a resurgence of Covid-19 cases globally, according to MIDF Research.

In a note today, the research house said Malaysia’s exports had been improving steadily since the initial shocks from the pandemic in April and May, in line with the resumption of activities globally and benefiting from China’s recovery, the country’s main trading partner.

For this year, the research firm has revised exports and imports growth forecast to -2.5% and -6.8%, respectively. 

“For the year-to-date, exports fell -2.6% year-on-year surpassing our initial forecast of -3.5% year-on-year for this year.

“Meanwhile, imports recovery has been sluggish, continuously recording negative growth since the trough in May, mainly due to weak performance of both intermediate and capital goods suggesting that most local manufacturers remained in pessimistic mode,” it said. 

MIDF Research added that year-to-date, imports declined -7.0% year-on-year, far from its initial forecast of -5.1% year-on-year.

“Hence, we revised our exports growth forecast for 2020 to -2.5% year-on-year, better than initially expected, and imports growth forecast to -6.8% year-on-year, indicating slower performance than anticipated earlier,” it said. 

Nevertheless, for 2021, MIDF Research foresees both exports and imports to rebound to 5.3% and 6.0% year-on-year, respectively, on the back of international trade recovery. – Bernama, December 28, 2020