MALAYSIA recorded a trade surplus of RM36.99 bil in the first quarter of this year, up 0.1% from the same period of last year, the highest trade surplus recorded for a first quarter since 2011, the International Trade and Industry Ministry (MITI) said.
Total trade, exports and imports contracted 8.1%, 7.4% and 8.9%, respectively from the previous quarter while the trade surplus expanded by 1.5%.
Total trade in 1Q20 grew 1.2% to RM440.38 bil from 1Q19.
Higher trade was recorded with Indonesia, the United States, South Korea, Saudi Arabia and Singapore.
Exports during the period registered an increase of 1.1% to RM238.68 bil, the highest export recorded for a 1Q thus far, while imports rose 1.3% to RM201.69 bil.
Imports amounted to RM201.69 bil in 1Q20, an increase of 1.3% from the same period of 2019.
According to MITI, the country’s March 2020 trade was valued at RM147.9 bil, a decrease of 3.8% from March 2019.
Lower trade was recorded with Thailand, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Germany and Singapore. Nevertheless, higher trade was registered with Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, South Korea and Japan.
Exports contracted 4.7% to RM80.12 bil and imports declined 2.7% to RM67.78 bil.
The trade surplus in March 2020 was valued at RM12.34 bil, a decrease of 14.2% from March 2019, which was the 269th consecutive month of trade surplus since November 1997.
Meanwhile, trade, exports and imports in March this year rose by 8.5%, 7.6% and 9.6% respectively compared with the previous month, while trade surplus was down by 2.2%.
In March 2020, exports of manufactured goods which constituted 84.4% of total exports, declined by 4.5% year-on-year (yoy) to RM67.62 bil.
This was due to contraction in exports of electrical and electronic (E&E) products, manufactures of metal, machinery, equipment and parts, optical and scientific equipment as well as jewellery.
However, better export performance was seen in transport equipment, petroleum products, other manufactures, especially solid-state storage devices (SSD), iron and steel products, rubber products as well as paper and pulp products.
MITI said trade with Asean in March 2020 contracted 5% yoy to RM39.06 bil, accounting for 26.4% share of Malaysia’s total trade.
Exports to Asean grew 3% to RM24.29 bil, buoyed by higher exports of manufactured goods, particularly transport equipment, petroleum products and iron and steel products which compensated for the contraction in exports of E&E products.
Imports from Asean countries decreased by 15.7% to RM14.77 bil.
Meanwhile, trade with China which represented 16.8% of Malaysia’s total trade or RM24.88 bil, decreased by 2.2% yoy in March 2020.
Exports to China contracted by 6.1% to RM10.96 bil, weighed down by lower exports of E&E products and petroleum products. Imports grew by 1.2% to RM13.92 bil.
On a month-on-month (mom) basis, trade, exports and imports surged by 29.6, 16.1 and 42.7%.
Trade with China for 1Q 2020 stood at RM70.48 bil, a 2.1% decline compared with the same period of 2019.
On trade with the US which constituted 8.7% of Malaysia’s total trade, it decreased by 4.3% yoy in March 2020 to RM12.87 bil.
Exports to the US declined by 3.6% to RM7.35 bil, contracting for the first time in 12 months on account of softer demand for manufactured goods.
Trade with the European Union (EU), which contributed 7.9% to Malaysia’s total trade, also registered an 18% decrease yoy to RM11.67 bil.
Meanwhile, in March 2020, trade with Japan continued to expand for two consecutive months, rising by 3.8% yoy to RM11.39 bil and accounted for 7.7% of Malaysia’s total trade.
On the contrary, trade with Free Trade Agreement (FTA) partners which made up 66.5% of Malaysia’s total trade saw a 3.3% decline yoy to RM98.35 bil.
Exports to FTA partners came up to RM55.23 bil, a decrease of 3.5% while imports contracted by 3.1% to RM43.12 bil.
MITI also said Malaysia’s total imports in March 2020 fell 2.7% to RM67.78 bil from March 2019. — May 4, 2020, Bernama
