PETALING JAYA: Malaysia’s trade performance maintained its upward momentum in January with trade, exports and imports registering the highest monthly value for the month of January.
Trade expanded by 1.9% year-on-year (y-o-y) to RM207.51 billion; exports rose by 1.6% to RM112.84 billion and imports were higher by 2.3% to RM94.67 billion.
The trade surplus amounted to RM18.16 billion, a decrease of 2.1%, and this marked the 33rd consecutive month of trade surplus since May 2020, Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation said today.
The export expansion was bolstered by strong exports of petroleum products, liquefied natural gas (LNG) as well as electrical and electronic (E&E) products. Exports to major trading partners notably Asean and Japan recorded double-digit growth.
Compared with December 2022, trade, exports, imports and trade surplus contracted by 11.8%, 14.4%, 8.6% and 35.5% respectively due to shorter working days and long festive holidays.
Last month exports of manufactured goods which accounted for 84.2% of total exports decreased marginally by 0.1% y-o-y to RM94.97 billion. This was due to lower exports of manufactures of metal, rubber products as well as iron and steel products.
However, expansion in exports was seen for petroleum products, E&E products, optical and scientific equipment as well as beverages and tobacco. Collectively, exports of petroleum products and E&E products accounted for 52.2% of Malaysia’s total exports and rose by RM7.66 billion.
Exports of mining goods (9.1% share) soared by 50.1% y-o-y to RM10.23 billion, the 22nd successive month of double-digit growth which was led by higher exports of LNG.
Exports of agriculture goods (6.2% share) declined by 19.8% to RM7.01 billion compared to January 2022 due to lower exports of palm oil and palm oil-based agriculture products.
Major exports in January were E&E products, valued at RM46.96 billion and accounted for 41.6% of total exports, increased by 4.7% from January 2022; Petroleum products, RM11.92 billion, 10.6% of total exports, surged by 87.5%; LNG, RM6.68 billion, 5.9% of total exports, surged by 62.3%;
Chemicals and chemical products, RM5.78 billion, 5.1% of total exports, decreased by 6.6%; and Palm oil and palm oil-based agriculture products, RM5.29 billion, 4.7% of total exports, decreased by 23.2%.
Trade with Asean contributed 26.6% to Malaysia’s total trade, rising by 5.6% y-o-y to RM55.26 billion. Exports grew by 10.7% to RM34.1 billion, the 18th consecutive month of double-digit growth. This was underpinned by higher exports of petroleum products and E&E products. Imports from Asean declined by 1.8% to RM21.16 billion.
Meanwhile trade with the United States, which accounted for 9% of Malaysia’s total trade rose by 1.2% y-o-y to RM18.72 billion. Exports amounted to RM12.05 billion, a marginal decrease of 0.6% due to lower exports of iron and steel products as well as wood and rubber products. However, the contraction was cushioned by higher exports of E&E products, petroleum products as well as palm oil and palm oil based agriculture products. Imports from the US edged up by 4.7% to RM6.67 billion.
Trade with the European Union which represented 8.2% of Malaysia’s total trade, grew by 3.5% y-o-y to RM17.09 billion. Exports rose by 1.4% to RM9.35 billion, . Imports were up by 6.1% to RM7.74 billion.