KUALA LUMPUR: Export and import unit value indices rose 0.8% to 116.5 points and 0.4% to 117.7 points respectively in December 2019 from a month earlier, according to the Statistics Department today.
Chief Statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin attributed the growth of the export unit value index mainly to the increase in the index of animal & vegetable oils & fats at 10.8%, followed by mineral fuels at 2.6% and inedible crude materials at 0.2%.
Meanwhile, the export volume index rose 6.0% to 139.4 points, led by the increase in the index of machinery & transport equipment (12.2%), mineral fuels (10.5%) and inedible crude materials (7.9%).
“In seasonally adjusted terms, the export volume index expanded 7.8% to 137.0 points,” he said, adding that export unit value and volume indices increased 0.8% and 1.9% respectively compared to 2018.
Meanwhile, he said, the rise in the import unit value index by 0.4% was due to the growth in the indices of animal & vegetable oils & fats, mineral fuels and food at 7.2%, 3.7% and food at 0.3% respectively.
However, Mohd Uzir said, the import volume index decreased 1.0% to 142.6 points, attributable to the decline in the index of mineral fuels at 3.2%, followed by machinery & transport equipment at 2.9% and inedible crude materials at 2.5%.
“In seasonally adjusted terms, the import volume index in December 2019 registered a marginal decline of 0.1% to 140.6 points,” he added.
He elaborated that on a year-on-year basis, the import unit value and volume indices increased 0.02% and 0.9% respectively.
The department also reported that Malaysia’s terms of trade expanded 0.4% to 99.0 points compared with November 2019.
On a year-on-year basis, Malaysia’s terms of trade also registered a rise of 0.8% from 98.2 points, it said. – Feb 4, 2020, Bernama
