Malaysia registers RM9.01 bln trade surplus in January

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KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia registered a trade surplus of RM9.01 billion for the 207th consecutive month in January this year, a 41.8 per cent increase compared with the corresponding month last year, the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) said.

Exports for January remained high at RM63.6 billion while total imports decreased by 5.3 per cent to RM54.59 billion from a year ago.

In a statement yesterday, MITI said total trade in January 2015 amounted to RM118.2 billion, a 2.8 per cent drop from a year ago and the performance was in tandem with the regional trade performance.

It said exports of manufactured goods contributed 76.5 per cent to the total exports with higher export of electrical and electronics products, up six per cent or RM1.23 billion.

Other manufactured products that registered increases were iron and steel products, machinery, appliances and parts, chemicals and chemical products, and optical and scientific equipment.

It said export of agricultural goods dropped by 13.4 per cent to RM4.99 billion attributed to lower exports of palm oil which decreased by 21.4 per cent due to lower prices and volumes.

“The export of mining goods in January was sustained with higher export of crude petroleum due to higher volume,” it said.

Growth in exports recorded to major markets were, namely Asean (1.8 per cent), European Union (3.7 per cent), the US (18.1 per cent), India (14.7 per cent), Taiwan (RM511.6 million), Norway (RM278.3 million), Kenya (RM209.1 million) and South Africa (RM197.7 million), it said.

On the other hand, exports to Japan declined to RM7.45 billion compared with RM7.52 billion a year ago while that of China decreased by 22.7 per cent to RM6.45 billion.

As for imports in January, the three main categories by end use were valued at – intermediate goods (RM33.06 billion) or 60.6 per cent of total imports, capital goods (RM8.14 billion) and consumption goods (RM4.38 billion).

Major import products were electrical and electronic products which were valued at (RM16.26 billion), chemical and chemical products (RM4.98 billion) and machinery, appliances and parts (RM4.85 billion), said MITI.

It said Asean was Malaysia’s major import source accounting for 25.1 per cent of total imports in January followed by China (20 per cent), Japan (7.8 per cent) and the US (7.7 per cent). — Bernama