PETALING JAYA: Malaysia’s exports rebounded by 13.6% to RM88.9 billion in September 2020 compared with the same month in 2019, driven by re-exports.
The re-export value of RM17.7 billion contributed to 19.9% of total exports. Meanwhile, domestic exports which was valued at RM71.2 billion, increased by 8.8% year-on-year (y-o-y).
Imports totalled RM67.0 billion, continued to register a negative growth with a smaller magnitude of 3.6%.
“Trade surplus was valued at RM22.0 billion and this was the second highest monthly trade surplus after July 2020 with a growth of 149.3% y-o-y. Total trade amounted RM155.9 billion, expanded by 5.5%,“ chief statistician Malaysia Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said in a statement today.
Total exports in the third quarter of 2020 (Q3’20) grew 4.4% from RM249.5 billion to RM260.6 billion, while imports shrank by 6.3% from RM213.7 billion recorded in Q3’19 to RM200.3 billion. Total trade reached RM460.9 billion, 0.5% lower from the same period last year.
Trade surplus in Q3’20 recorded an increase of 68.4% from RM35.8 billion registered in Q3’19 to RM60.4 billion. In comparison to Q2’20, exports, imports, total trade and trade surplus increased by 24.0%, 9.6%, 17.3% and 118.6% respectively.
The expansion in exports in September 2020 was contributed by higher exports to China (+RM4.6 billion), the European Union (+RM1.9 billion), the US (+RM1.9 billion), Hong Kong (+RM1.6 billion) and Singapore (+RM1.5 billion). Meanwhile, a decrease of imports from Singapore (-RM1.2 billion), Korea (-RM762.9 million), the European Union (-RM575.0 million) and Thailand (-RM433.2 million) contributed to the decrease in imports.
The main products which contributed to the increase in exports were electrical and electronic (E&E) products (+RM9.6 billion); rubber products (+RM2.4 billion); palm oil and palm oil-based agriculture products (+RM1.5 billion) and iron and steel products (+RM453.4 million). Meanwhile, decreases in imports were noted for petroleum products (-RM2.5 billion) and crude petroleum (-RM1.3 billion).
However, imports by end use registered a decline for intermediate goods and capital goods. Imports of intermediate goods (RM32.8 billion) decreased by 17.8% and capital goods (RM7.7 billion) shrank by 1.8%. On the other hand, imports of consumption goods increased by 11.2% from RM6.0 billion to RM6.6 billion.
