Malaysia records higher trade surplus of RM8.3bil in July

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's total trade in July 2018 rose 9.8% from a year ago to RM163.95bil on expanded trade with key trading partners, the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) has revealed.

The country registered 1.7% year-on-year growth in trade surplus of RM8.3bil, following a 41.4% decline in June.

Exports for the month grew 9.4% year-on-year to a new high of RM86.12bil while imports similarly expanded 10.3% to a monthly record of RM77.83bil.

For the seven months to July 31, total trade grew 6.1% to RM1.07 trillion over the same period last year.

Year-on-year, exports rose 7.3% to RM568.72bil while imports gained 4.8% to RM499.91bil for a 29.7% higher trade surplus of RM68.81bil.

Manufactured goods exports, which comprise 84.6% of the country's exports, grew 12.6% year-on-year to RM72.82bil in July.

Exports of mining goods and agriculture goods expanded 7.1% and 6.4% to RM7.34bil and RM5.49bil respectively.

All the country's major export items saw increases in total export except for petroleum products, which fell 13% to RM6.17bil. Malaysia's top export item, electrical and electronics (E&E) products rose 23.6% to RM34.5bil.

Malaysia's trade with free trade agreement (FTA) partners rose 7.1% to RM102.08bil, or 62.3% of the country's total trade.

"Higher exports were registered to India, increasing by 16.3% to RM3.57 billion, attributed mainly to higher exports of crude petroleum, the Republic of Korea (17.9% to RM2.76bil, E&E products) and Australia (6.3% to RM2.82bil, crude petroleum)," said MITI.

Malaysia's trade with Asean and China continued to grow, while exports with the US rebounded for a higher total trade value.

Total trade with the EU showed a marginal decrease of 0.4% due to a drop in imports while trade with Japan slipped 9.8% due to lower exports of LNG and E&E products.

Trade with China rose 19.4% to RM28.31bil with exports to the country jumping 37.5% compared to the year before. 

"This was attributed to higher exports of E&E products, chemicals and chemical products, LNG, petroleum products and crude petroleum. Imports from China were up by 7.5% to RM15.39 billion," said MITI.

Domestic exports, accounting for 78.3% of Malaysia's total exports rose 1.1% to RM67.47bil following a decline in the previous month. 

Re-exports surged 55.1% year-on-year to RM18.65bil for a seventh straight month of double-digit expansion.

The value of Malaysian imports grew 10.3% to RM77.83bil, led by growth in capital and consumption goods. Intermediate goods, which makes up 51.2% of total imports, edged 0.1% lower due to lower imports of parts and accessories of capital goods.