Brunei: Total trade increased by 18.9pc in February

• May 27, 2021

Total trade for the country increased by 18.9 per cent from BND1,510.7 million to BND1,796.1 million in February compared to the same month last year, driven due to an increase of mineral fuel imports, according to statistics from the International Merchandise Trade Statistics (IMTS) report from the Department of Economic Planning and Statistics (JPES).

For month-to-month changes, total trade for February 2021 increased by 32.8 per cent compared to January 2021.

According to the report, imports had risen from BND389.5 million in February 2020 to BND846.8 million in February this year.

The report said this was driven by mineral fuel imports largely used as input for the production of petrochemical products.

In addition, there was also an increase of food, miscellaneous manufactured articles, chemicals and manufactured goods.

The five main imports by commodity were mineral fuels (67.2 per cent), followed by machinery and transport equipment (12.1 per cent), food (7.3 per cent), manufactured goods (4.4 per cent), miscellaneous manufactured articles (3.9 per cent), and chemicals (3.9 per cent). In the ‘End Use’ category, imports of intermediate goods account for 57.9 per cent of total imports, followed by capital goods (37.8 per cent) and consumption goods (4.3 per cent).

For imports by trading partners, the highest share was from Greece (18.9 per cent), followed by Malaysia (11.8 per cent), and Russia (11.7 per cent).

Imports from Greece, Russia, Nigeria, and Iraq were mostly mineral fuels. Total exports in February on the other hand, decreased by 15.3 per cent year-on-year, from BND1,121.2 million to BND949.3 million.

The department attributed this to a decrease in crude oil exports by 34.6 per cent as well as a decrease in liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports by 32.4 per cent, compared to February 2020.

The decline in exports of crude oil was in line with a decline of export volume from 70.87 thousand barrels per day in February 2020 to 63.90 thousand barrels per day, due to a slow global demand.

Meanwhile for LNG, the average export price declined to USD7.17 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) from USD10.66/MMbtu while export volumes also decreased from 1,038,729MMBtu per day in February 2020 to 1,034,729 MMBtu per day.

In terms of commodity by section, mineral fuels represented the major contributor to the county’s exports at 81 per cent, followed by chemicals (16.3 per cent), machinery and transport equipment (1.3 per cent), crude minerals inedible (0.5 per cent), and food (0.3 per cent).

The main export market in February 2021 was Japan (29.1 per cent) followed by Singapore (23.9 per cent) and China (15.0 per cent).

According to the mode of transport, in February 2021, the highest share was transport by sea, which amounted to BND1,724.5 million (96.0 per cent).

This was followed by air transport (BND51.3 million or 2.9 per cent) and via land (BND20.2 million or 1.1 per cent).

The 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 February 2021 is available from the JPES’s website: www.deps.gov.bn.

Source: https://borneobulletin.com.bn/total-trade-increased-by-18-9pc-in-february/