Malaysia’s total trade soars 21.3% to RM231.44bil in April

• May 19, 2022

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s trade performance continued its upward momentum in April 2022 with total trade increasing 21.3 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) to RM231.44 billion, marking the 15th consecutive month of double-digit growth.

In a statement today, the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) said trade, exports, imports and trade surplus registered the highest monthly value for the month of April.

It said exports increased 20.7 per cent to RM127.49 billion, the ninth successive month of double-digit y-o-y expansion.

Imports, meanwhile, grew 22 per cent to RM103.95 billion and trade surplus expanded 15.7 per cent to RM23.55 billion.

“The export growth was boosted by higher shipments of electrical and electronic (E&E) products, mainly semiconductors driven by global digitalisation trends.

“Exports to major markets notably ASEAN, China, the United States (US), the European Union (EU) and Japan recorded double-digit growth.

“Meanwhile, exports to the US recorded the highest monthly value ever,” said the statement.

MITI added that on a month-on-month (m-o-m) basis, trade, exports, imports and trade surplus declined 2.1 per cent, 3.1 per cent, 0.9 per cent and 11.6 per cent, respectively.

MITI noted that the highest value recorded for trade, exports, imports and trade surplus was from January to April 2022.

“Trade increased 22.9 per cent to RM856.21 billion compared to the same period last year.

“Exports surged 21.8 per cent to RM472.39 billion and imports went up 24.3 per cent to RM383.82 billion. Trade surplus grew 12.1 per cent to RM88.57 billion,” it said.

On the export performance of major sectors, MITI said double-digit export growth were recorded for all major sectors in April 2022.

Exports of manufactured goods in April 2022, which absorbed 84.2 per cent of total exports, rose 17.2 per cent y-o-y to RM107.39 billion, said MITI.

It added that this was underpinned by higher exports of E&E products, manufactures of metal, chemicals and chemical products as well as palm oil-based manufactured products, each recording more than RM1 billion increase in exports.

MITI said exports of agriculture goods (eight per cent share) increased 29.9 per cent to RM10.2 billion compared to April 2021, the 14th consecutive month of double-digit growth, driven by higher exports of palm oil and palm oil-based agriculture products.

Exports of mining goods (7.3 per cent share), expanded 64.6 per cent y-o-y to RM9.33 billion, the 13th successive month of double-digit growth, bolstered by growing exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and crude petroleum, it added.

Compared to March 2022, exports of manufactured, agriculture and mining goods contracted 1.9 per cent, 3.5 per cent and 13.4 per cent, respectively, MITI noted.

For the period of January to April 2022, it said exports of manufactured goods grew 17.6 per cent to RM399.04 billion compared to the same period in 2021, boosted by strong exports of E&E products, petroleum products, manufactures of metal, chemicals and chemical products as well as palm oil-based manufactured products.

Exports of agriculture goods climbed 43.6 per cent to RM37.37 billion buoyed by higher exports of palm oil and palm oil-based agriculture products.

Meanwhile, exports of mining goods surged 60.4 per cent to RM33.74 billion contributed by higher shipments of LNG, crude petroleum as well as metalliferous ores and metal scrap, it said.

On the trade performance with major markets in April 2022, MITI said trade with ASEAN accounted for 26.1 per cent of Malaysia’s total trade, growing 21.4 per cent y-o-y to RM60.48 billion.

MITI added that exports expanded 14.2 per cent to RM34.84 billion driven mainly by higher exports of E&E products, while imports from ASEAN surged 32.7 per cent to RM25.64 billion.

Exports to major markets in ASEAN that recorded increases were Singapore, which grew by RM1.42 billion due to higher exports of E&E products, Thailand (+RM1.07 billion, crude petroleum), Vietnam (+RM1.05 billion, E&E products), Indonesia (+RM728.5 million, petroleum products) and the Philippines (+RM229.2 million, iron and steel products).

Compared to March 2022, trade, exports and imports fell eight per cent, 11.4 per cent and three per cent, respectively.

MITI said trade with ASEAN in the first four months of 2022, edged up 26.4 per cent to RM229.62 billion compared to the same period in 2021 with exports to this region rising 23.0 per cent to RM134.3 billion.

Meanwhile, imports from ASEAN increased 31.7 per cent to RM95.32 billion.

MITI said trade with China in April 2022, which comprised 16.9 per cent of Malaysia’s total trade, expanded 10.1 per cent y-o-y to RM39.22 billion.

Exports registered a 12.4 per cent growth to RM17.36 billion bolstered mainly by higher exports of E&E products, while imports climbed 8.3 per cent to RM21.85 billion.

Compared to March 2022, trade and imports were up 0.5 per cent and three per cent, respectively.

MITI said trade with China during the first four months of 2022 grew 17.5 per cent to RM150.56 billion compared to the same period in 2021.

Trade with the US in April 2022, which represented 9.6 per cent of Malaysia’s total trade, increased 21.1 per cent y-o-y to RM22.13 billion.

MITI said exports to the US registered RM14.35 billion, expanding 18.1 per cent on the back of higher exports of E&E products, while imports expanded 27.2 per cent to RM7.78 billion.

“On a m-o-m basis, trade, exports and imports grew 5.6 per cent, 5.7 per cent and 5.3 per cent, respectively.

“From January to April 2022, trade with the US increased 16.7 per cent to RM78.79 billion compared to the same period in 2021,” it noted.

Trade with the EU, which contributed eight per cent to Malaysia’s total trade in April 2022, leaped 24.2 per cent y-o-y to RM18.5 billion, said MITI.

Exports edged up 30.5 per cent to RM11.54 billion, the seventh consecutive month of double-digit growth, supported by higher exports of manufactures of metal as well as E&E products.

Imports from the EU rose 15.1 per cent to RM6.96 billion, MITI added.

On a month-on-month basis, trade and imports grew 1.1 per cent and four per cent, respectively.

Exports declined 0.5 per cent and during the first four months of 2022, trade with the EU climbed 19.7 per cent to RM68.33 billion compared to the same period of 2021, it said.

MITI said trade with Japan, which made up 6.4 per cent of Malaysia’s total trade, increased 12.8 per cent y-o-y to RM14.92 billion.

Exports edged up 22.1 per cent to RM7.58 billion, the 14th straight month of double-digit expansion buoyed mainly by higher exports of LNG, while imports from Japan rose 4.5 per cent to RM7.34 billion.

“Compared to March 2022, imports increased 0.7 per cent while trade and exports were down 7.3 per cent and 13.9 per cent, respectively.

“From January to April 2022, trade with Japan expanded 13.1 per cent to RM56.66 billion compared to the same period in 2021,” MITI said.

On trade with Free Trade Agreement (FTA) partners in April 2022, which comprised 65.7 per cent of Malaysia’s total trade, MITI said it surged 19.5 per cent y-o-y to RM152 billion.

Exports to FTA partners rose 20.3 per cent to RM84.23 billion and imports edged up 18.4 per cent to RM67.77 billion.

Exports to South Korea increased 54.6 per cent to RM4.38 billion on robust exports of iron and steel products, Hong Kong (+20.4 per cent to RM7.15 billion, E&E products) and Australia (+57.7 per cent to RM5.11 billion, crude petroleum).

Meanwhile, MITI said exports to India expanded 37.9 per cent to RM5.06 billion due to higher exports of palm oil and palm oil-based agriculture products, Turkey (+42.7 per cent to RM1.85 billion, manufactures of metal) and New Zealand (+44.8 per cent to RM416.3 million, petroleum products).

“Compared to March 2022, imports rose 1.1 per cent while trade and exports contracted 2.5 per cent and 5.3 per cent, respectively.

“Trade with FTA partners during the first four months of 2022, which took up 66.6 per cent of Malaysia’s total trade, increased 22.4 per cent to RM570.45 billion compared to the same period in 2021,” MITI noted.

On Malaysia’s total imports in April 2022, MITI said it grew 22 per cent y-o-y to RM103.95 billion, with three main categories of imports by end use accounting for 74.0 per cent of total imports.

These include intermediate goods, valued at RM59.59 billion or 57.3 per cent of total imports, which increased 28.1 per cent, capital goods, valued at RM9.10 billion or 8.8 per cent of total imports, contracted by 2.4 per cent, and consumption goods, valued at RM8.28 billion or eight per cent of total imports, which rose 9.7 per cent.

MITI added that during the period of January to April 2022, imports climbed 24.3 per cent to RM383.82 billion compared to the same period in 2021.- Bernama