Malaysia records increase in external trade unit values in October

PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia’s monthly export and import unit value indices posted positive growths of 1.4% and 0.6% respectively, in October 2021, according to the Statistics Department.

“The export unit value index increased 1.4% in October 2021 as compared with the previous month, contributed by the increases in the index of mineral fuels (+6.2%), animal & vegetable oils & fats (+3.3%) and chemicals (+0.9%),” chief statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said in a statement.

Meanwhile, the export volume index rose 1.8% in the same month, reflected by the increases in the index of manufactured goods (+8.1%), chemicals (+7.1%) and machinery & transport equipment (+4.1%).

The seasonally adjusted export volume index fell 8.0 per cent from 165.9 points to 152.6 points.

On annual comparison, both export unit value and volume index grew 16.4% and 7.8%, respectively.

Mohd Uzir said the import unit value index grew 0.6% in October 2021 as compared with the previous month, due to the increases in the index of mineral fuels (+4.7%), manufactured goods (+0.04%) and machinery & transport equipment (+0.03%).

“On the other hand, the import volume index increased by 3.6% in October 2021 as compared to the preceding month, contributed by the increases in the index of mineral fuels (+8.2%), machinery & transport equipment (+4.6%) and manufactured goods (+3.7%).

“The seasonally adjusted import volume index in October 2021 dropped 0.8% from 160.9 points to 159.6 points.

“On a year-on-year basis, both the import unit value and volume indices expanded 7.5% and 19.2% respectively,” he said.

In addition, Malaysia’s terms of trade increased by 0.8% month-on-month to 106.7 points in October 2021.

The Statistics Department said Malaysia’s terms of trade performance remained positive at 8.3% from 98.5 points in October of the previous year.