Thailand
Brunei’s total trade increased by 178.6 per cent in June
Brunei Darussalam’s total trade was valued at BND3,154.9 million in June, an increase by 178.6 per cent from BND1,132.6 million during the same month last year. Meanwhile, for month-to-month changes, total trade for June increased by 70.5 per cent compared to May.
Total exports increased by 145.8 per cent year-on-year to BND1,320.7 million compared to BND537.4 million in June 2020. This was mainly due to the increase in Mineral Fuels exports to BND991.8 million (June) from BND417.6 million (June 2020), and Chemicals exports to BND302.2 million (June) from BND109.1 million (June 2020).
The increase in Mineral Fuels exports was largely due to an increase in the value of exports of crude oil, exports of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) and exports of petroleum products from the downstream activities. The increase in exports of crude oil was mainly attributed to a significant increase in average price to USD73.82 per barrel (June) from USD34.52 per barrel (June 2020). Likewise for LNG exports, the increase was due to an increase in the average price to USD9.16 per MMBtu (June) from USD4.26 per MMBtu (June 2020). Meanwhile, the total volume of both crude oil and LNG exports recorded a decline compared to the previous year.
In terms of commodity by section, Mineral Fuels represents the major contributor to Brunei’s exports (75.1 per cent), followed by Chemicals (22.9 per cent), and Machinery and Transport Equipment (0.8 per cent).
The main exports market in June was Singapore (27.4 per cent), followed by People’s Republic of China (23.1 per cent) and Japan (18.0 per cent). For imports, the total value increased to BND1,834.2 million (June) from BND595.2 million (June 2020) mainly driven by an increase in imports of Mineral Fuels which are largely used as input for the production of petrochemical products.
The five main imports by commodity were Mineral Fuels (84.6 per cent), followed by Machinery and Transport Equipment (5.7 per cent), Food (3.1 per cent), Manufactured Goods (2.5 per cent) and Chemicals (2.1 per cent). By End Use Category, imports of Intermediate Goods accounted for 56.8 per cent of the total imports, followed by Capital Goods (40.7 per cent) and Consumption Goods (2.5 per cent).
For imports by trading partners, the highest share was from Saudi Arabia (60.7 per cent), followed by Russia (11.1 per cent), and Malaysia (7.9 per cent). The largest import commodity from Saudi Arabia, Russia and Malaysia was Mineral Fuels.
According to the mode of transport, in June 2021, the highest share was transported by sea, which amounted to BND3,074.4 million (97.4 per cent). This was followed by air transport (BND56.9 million or 1.8 per cent) and via land (BND23.4 million or 0.7 per cent).
The International Merchandise Trade Statistics (IMTS) for Brunei Darussalam adopts the General System for recording trade statistics, which covers imports, domestic exports, and re-exports. The IMTS full report is available from the Department of Economic Planning and Statistics’ (DEPS) website at www.deps.gov.bn.
Source: https://borneobulletin.com.bn/bruneis-total-trade-increased-by-178-6-per-cent-in-june/