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Brunei trade sees 39.5pc decrease in Nov 2020
Brunei Darussalam’s total trade was valued at BND1,263.4 million in October 2020, a decrease of 39.5 per cent from BND2,087.1 million during the same month in the previous year.
Meanwhile, for month-to-month changes, total trade for November 2020 decreased by 14.1 per cent compared to October 2020, according to a press release.
Total exports decreased by 51.1 per cent year-on-year to BND545.7 million compared to BND1,113.9 million in November 2019. This was mainly due to the decline in mineral fuel exports to BND405.8 million in November 2020 from BND1,024.1 million in November 2019.
The decline in mineral fuel exports were due to a decrease in crude oil exports from BND64.5 million in November 2020 from BND255.6 million in November 2019 and a decrease in liquefied natural gas (LNG) to BND165.5 million in November 2020 from BND363.1 million in November 2019.
The decline in exports of crude oil and LNG was due to the slow global demand and a decline in prices. The total exports volume of crude oil decreased to 48.78 thousand barrels per day (November 2020) from 91.22 thousand barrels per day (November 2019), while the average exports price of crude oil fell to USD41.32 per barrel in November 2020 from USD68.62 per barrel in October 2019. Meanwhile for LNG, the average exports price declined to USD6.06/MMBtu for November 2020 from USD9.55/MMBtu for November 2019, while the exports volume of LNG decreased to 675,165 MMBtu per day in November 2020 from 895,178 MMBtu per day in November 2019.
Total exports was also contributed by the exports of Other Petroleum and Gas Products valued at BND175.7 million.
In terms of commodity by section, Mineral Fuels represents the major contributor to Brunei Darussalam’s exports with 74.4 per cent, followed by Chemicals (21.7 per cent), Miscellaneous Manufactured Articles (1.4 per cent), Machinery and Transport Equipment (1.4 per cent) and Manufactured Goods (0.3 per cent).
The main exports market in October 2020 was Japan (27 per cent) followed by People’s Republic of China (16 per cent) and Thailand (15 per cent).
For imports, the total value increased to BND717.7 million (November 2020) from BND973.2 million (November 2019) mainly driven by an increase in imports of Mineral Fuels and Machinery and Transport Equipment.
The five main imports by commodity were Mineral Fuels (42.8 per cent), followed by Machinery and Transport Equipment (20.7 per cent), Manufactured Goods (11.9 per cent), Food (9.3 per cent), and Chemicals (8.6 per cent).
By End Use category, imports of Intermediate Goods accounted for 57.3 per cent of the total imports, followed by Capital Goods (37.3 per cent) and Consumption Goods (5.4 per cent).
For imports by trading partners, the highest share was from Malaysia (29.5 per cent), followed by Singapore (9.7 per cent), and Saudi Arabia (8.4 per cent).
According to the mode of transport, the highest share was transport by sea, which amounts to BND1,159.7 million (91.8 per cent). This was followed by air transport (BND75.2 million or 6.0 per cent) and via land (BND28.5 million or 2.3 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 for November 2020 is available on www.deps.gov.bn.
Source: https://borneobulletin.com.bn/brunei-trade-sees-39-5pc-decrease-in-nov-2020/