KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s trade surplus in January to November 2019 expanded by 10.6% to RM124.74 bil from RM112.82 bil registered for the same period of 2018, the Ministry of International Trade and Industry said.
It was the largest trade surplus recorded for the period of January to November since 2009.
However, compared to October 2019, our imports logged a growth of 1.4% while exports, total trade and trade surplus declined by 10.8%, 5.4% and 62.3%, respectively.
“Against the backdrop of challenging global economic conditions and ongoing trade tensions, Malaysia’s total trade over the past 11 months, however, slipped 3% to RM1.68 tril.
“Lower trade was recorded with Singapore, Hong Kong, France, Japan and Thailand. Meanwhile, higher trade was registered with the United States, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the Philippines and the United Kingdom,” the ministry said in a statement.
Miti noted that exports for the period dropped 2.1% to RM899.93 bil and imports contracted by 3.9% to RM775.19 bil.
Total trade in November 2019 decreased by 4.6% year-on-year to RM155.06 bil.
Exports totalled RM80.8 bil, down 5.5%, while imports amounted to RM74.26 bil, a decline of 3.6%.
Total imports in November 2019 dropped by 3.6% to RM74.26 bil from RM77.05 bil in November 2018. The three main categories of imports by end-use, which accounted for 77.5% of total imports, were intermediate goods, capital goods and consumption goods.
Trade surplus in November 2019 was valued at RM6.54 bil, dipping by 23.1% from the RM8.5 bil registered in November 2018.
The November trade surplus marked the 265th consecutive month of surplus since November 1997. – Jan 3, 2020, Bernama
