March exports surges past RM80b for first time
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's exports for March 2017 surged to RM82.63bil – exceeding the RM80bil mark for the first time – underpinned by manufactured, mining and agricultural products.
The Ministry of International Trade and Industry (Miti) said on Friday exports rose 24.1% from a year ago, exceeding economists forecast of a 20% increase.
This was the fourth consecutive month where exports posted double digit growth since December 2016.
“Higher trade was seen with Asean, China, the US, the EU, South Korea and Japan,” it said.
Miti said on a month-on-month basis, exports increased by 15.1%.
Imports surged by 39.4% to RM77.22bil – exceeding the forecast of a 28.6% rise. Trade balance was RM5.41bil, making it the 233rd consecutive month of trade surplus since November 1997.
Elaborating on the March exports, Miti said exports of manufactured goods jumped 22.1% to RM67.26bil. This segment accounts fo 81.4% of total exports in March.
“The increase was attributed to higher exports of electrical and electronic (E&E) products, especially electronic integrated circuits,” it said.
Mining also recorded an increase in exports by 36.1% to RM7.67bil. Mining goods accounted for 9.3% of total exports mainly crude petroleum and liquefied natural gas due to the higher average unit value and volume.
Palm oil underpinned the strong growth of agricultural exports. Exports rose 25.4% to RM6.89bil, boosted by palm oil exports which jumped to RM3.76bil.
The main driver of exports in March were E&E products at RM29.26bil and accounted for 35.4% of total exports. E&E products increased by 21.2% from a year ago.
Petroleum products recorded a 52.8% increase to RM6.58bil while chemical and chemical products reported a slower rise of 20.6% to RM6.13bil.
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