21/09/2022 (The Star Online), Petaling Jaya - Malaysia’s trade remained sturdy in August with double-digit growth recorded for exports and imports.

In a statement, the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (Miti) said trade surged by 56.7% to RM265.74bil compared with August 2021 – the 19th consecutive month of double-digit growth.

Exports jumped by 48.2% to RM141.33bil, the 13th successive month of double-digit growth, while imports leaped by 67.6% to RM124.41bil.

The trade surplus, however, contracted by 19.9% to RM16.92bil, it added.

For the January to August period, trade expanded by 33.1% to RM1.873 trillion from the same period last year.

“Exports surpassed RM1 trillion, the shortest period to reach this milestone, expanding by 30.3% to RM1.014 trillion,” it said.

The ministry attributed last month’s export expansion to higher shipments of electrical and electronic (E&E) products, petroleum products, palm oil and palm oil-based agriculture products, liquefied natural gas (LNG) as well as optical and scientific equipment.

Meanwhile, exports to major trading partners notably Asean, China, the United States, the European Union and Japan recorded double-digit growth.

“The highest monthly export value was registered to Japan,’ Miti added.

On a month-on-month (m-o-m) basis, trade, exports, imports and trade surplus grew by 5.2%, 5.4%, 5.0% and 8.6%, respectively, it said.

In terms of major sectors, exports of manufactured goods, which represented 84.5% of total exports, rose by 47.7% year-on-year (y-o-y) to RM119.48bil.

The growth was backed by higher exports of E&E products, petroleum products, optical and scientific equipment as well as machinery, equipment and parts, each recorded more than RM1bil increase in exports.

Where major markets are concerned, trade with Asean leaped by 61% y-o-y to RM70.87bil in August 2022, constituting 26.7% of Malaysia’s total trade.

Exports to all Asean markets recorded increases notably to Singapore, which grew by RM7.36bil, due to higher exports of E&E products.

In August, trade with China, which made up 16.5% of Malaysia’s total trade, expanded by 36.2%, while trade with the United States grew by 46.6%.

The three main categories of imports by end use were intermediate goods, capital goods, and consumption goods.

MIDF Research said the August trade performance was better than expected.

The research firm said the robust export growth for the month also suggested correction in commodity prices and concerns about sluggish recovery in China have yet to affect Malaysia’s trade performance.

“Close to 81% of the exports growth in August was attributable to sustained demand for E&E, oil and gas as well as palm oil products,” it noted.

It observed that there were also broad improvement in exports to major destinations.

“We raise our 2022 growth projection for both exports and imports to 22.4% and 29.5%, respectively, in view of the more robust performance until August.

“Nevertheless, we are cautious that trade outlook may be constrained by several downside risks such as weaker global economic growth amid rising global inflation, possible recession in the United States and Europe, sluggish recovery in China, and intensified geo-political tensions,”the research house added in a report.

https://www.thestar.com.my/business/business-news/2022/09/21/better-than-expected-trade-performance