Malaysia’s total trade value contracts to RM213.01bil in August

KUALA LUMPUR: The total value of Malaysia’s trade continued to decline in August, in line with the performance of key trading partners such as China, South Korea, Taiwan and Indonesia, which recorded negative trade growth and drops in their global imports during the month.

In a statement, the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry (Miti) said exports during the month declined 18.6% year-on-year (y-o-y) to RM115.16bil while imports were down 21.2% to RM97.85bil.

The country’s overall trade was down 19.8% to RM213.01bil from the same month in 2022, although the trade surplus edged up 0.1% to RM17.31bil from the comparative month.

Year-to-date, Malaysia’s total trade is down 8.1% to RM1.72 trillion from the same eight months in 2022 with the value of exports shrinking 7.6% to RM935.22bil and imports slipping 8.6% to RM782.29bil.

The contracting value of outward-bound shipments in August was mainly owing to the electronic and electrical (E&E) segment, which saw a 15.3% decline to RM43.38bil, and petroleum products, which fell 38.6% to RM12.44bil.

The export value of palm oil and palm-oil based agriculture products plunged 31.9% to RM5.56bil during the month.

In August, there were double-digit declines in Malaysia’s trade values with major trading partners.

Exports to Asean fell 20.6% to RM33.48bil as a result of reduced exports of petroleum products and electronic and electrical (E&E) products.

Shipments to Malaysia’s largest trading partner, China, were down 20.3% to RM14.72bil on lower exports of E&E products and LNG, while exports to the US declined 9.7% to RM13.52bil on lower demand for E&E and petroleum products.

Meanwhile, the country’s imports in August were 21.2% lower to RM97.85bil.

The value of the imports of intermediate goods fell 22.6% to RM51.45bil, capital good expanded 5.4% to RM10.71bil and consumption goods contracted 5.4% to RM8.53bil.