KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's exports in June declined 3.5% year-on-year (y-o-y) to RM121.72bil, amid a decrease in shipments of manufacturing and mining goods during the month.
The decline in outbound shipments weighed on the overall trade performance, which dropped a modest 1.2% to RM234.85bil compared to June last year. Imports for the month rose 1.2% to RM113.13bil.
"The decline in exports for the month of June 2025 was primarily attributed to lower shipments of manufactured and mining goods, particularly petroleum products, liquified natural gas (LNG) and crude petroleum," said the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry in its trade report.
However, Malaysia's overall trade value in the six months to June grew 4.8% to RM1.465 trillion as exports rose 3.8% to RM760.2bil and imports increased 5.9% to RM704.67bil.
The country's trade surplus rebounded to RM8.59bil in June as compared to RM759.9mil in the previous month, marking the 62nd consecutive month of surplus since May 2020.
During the month, exports of the manufactured goods - which account for 87.1% of total exports - fell 3.3% y-o-y to RM106.05bil due to lower exports of petroleum products, chemicals and chemical products as well as iron and steel products.
Conversely, robust exports were recorded for machinery, equipment and parts, E&E products as well as processed food.
Exports of agriculture goods saw 17.5% growth y-o-y to RM8.96bil, owing to higher exports of palm oil and palm oil-based agriculture products following increased export volumes and prices.
Outbound shipments of mining goods in June plunged 28.7% to RM5.71bil due to lower export volume of LNG as well as decreased export volumes and prices of crude petroleum.
By destination, Malaysia's exports to the US grew 4.7% to RM16.28bil on strong demand for electrical and electronics (E&E), processed food and non-metallic mineral products.
Imports from the US, meanwhile, jumped 21.1% to RM11.05bil.
In comparison, exports to China fell 9.3% to RM14.84bil due to lower exports of LNG, chemicals and chemical products as well as manufactures of metal, while exports to the Asean region contracted 13.8% to RM33.16bil on reduced demand for E&E and petroleum products.
