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Malaysia: May exports, imports climb on-year but down on-month
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s exports increased by 47.3% to RM92.31bil in May from a year ago, underpinned mainly by robust demand for electrical and electronic (E&E) products, according to the Minister of International Trade and Industry (MITI).
In a statement on Monday, it said the E&E products were mainly semiconductors due to the increasing orders for work-from-home equipment and digitalisation of businesses, rubber products as well as petroleum products.
“All major markets namely Asean, China, the US, the European Union (EU) and Japan registered positive export growth, ” it said.
MITI said the May exports were the ninth consecutive month of year-on-year (y-o-y) expansion since September 2020.
Imports rose by 50.3% to RM78.57bil and trade surplus expanded by 32.3% to RM13.74bil.
“Trade, exports and imports recorded the highest monthly value for the month of May and registered double-digit growth for four consecutive months, ” it said.
MITI said in May 2021, exports of all three sectors recorded double-digit growth with almost all products registered increases.
Exports of manufactured goods which accounted for 85.4% of total exports, surged by 45.4% y-o-y to RM78.83bil and was the sixth consecutive month of double-digit growth.
All manufactured products recorded positive growth while strong demand were seen for E&E products, rubber products, petroleum products, manufactures of metal as well as chemicals and chemical products, with exports expanding more than RM1bil, respectively.
Exports of agriculture goods (8.1% share) grew by 51.7% to RM7.49bil from a year ago, mainly by higher exports of palm oil and palm oil-based agriculture products.
Exports of mining goods (6.1% share) registered double-digit growth for two straight months to reach RM5.66bil, surged by 76% y-o-y.
“This was the fastest export growth recorded since October 2011. The expansion was underpinned by higher exports of crude petroleum and liquefied natural gas (LNG). Exports of LNG picked up by 45.2% to RM2.98bil after registering negative growth since March 2020, ” it said.
MITI said E&E products, valued at RM31.56bil and constituted 34.2% of total exports, increased by 34.3% from May 2020.
For petroleum products, exports were RM6.9bil, 7.5% of total exports, and recorded an increase by 75.1%.
Also recording an on-year increase were rubber products at RM6.31bil or 6.8% of total exports, which surged by 133.2%.
Palm oil and palm oil-based agriculture products registered exports of RM5.78bil, 6.3% of total exports, up by 60.5%.
Month-on-month
However, MITI said on a month-on-month (m-o-m) basis, trade fell by 10.4% from RM190.82bil in April to RM170.88bil; exports contracted by 12.6% to RM92.31bil from RM105.59bil; imports by 7.8% to RM78.57bil from RM85.23bil and trade surplus 32.5% to RM13.74bil from RM20.36bil.
Compared to April 2021, exports of manufactured, agriculture and mining goods were down by 14%, 4.6% and 0.2%, respectively.
January to May trade
Trade for January to May of 2021 grew by 26% to RM867.4bil compared with the previous corresponding period.
Exports rose by 31.1% to RM480.09bil and imports increased by 20.1% to RM387.31bil. Trade surplus surged by 112.2% to RM92.79bil.
Trade with China
In May 2021, trade with China rose by 40.8% y-o-y to RM33.44bil, accounting for 19.6% of Malaysia’s total trade.
Exports to China recorded the seventh consecutive month of double-digit growth, rising by 17.7% to RM13.87bil.
This was contributed by higher exports of E&E products, LNG, other manufactures especially solid-state storage devices (SSD) as well as chemicals and chemical products. Imports from China grew by 63.6% to RM19.57bil.
However, on a m-o-m basis, trade, exports and imports recorded negative growth of 6.1%, 10.2% and 3%, respectively.
Trade with US
Trade with the US in May 2021 increased by 34.3% y-o-y to RM16.46bil, constituting 9.6% of Malaysia’s total trade.
Exports rose by 46.5% to RM10.39bil following higher shipments of manufactured goods especially rubber products, E&E products, optical and scientific equipment, machinery, equipment and parts as well as wood products.
This was the 12th consecutive month of double-digit growth since June 2020. Imports from the US expanded by 17.6% to RM6.07 billion.
Compared to April 2021, trade, exports and imports fell by 9.9%, 14.5% and 0.8%, respectively.
Source: https://www.thestar.com.my/business/business-news/2021/06/28/may-exports-imports-climb-on-year-but-down-on-month