PETALING JAYA: Malaysia’s exports in April 2019 recorded an increase of 1.1% to RM85.2 billion year-on-year, driven by growth in exports to Singapore, Vietnam, Japan, Taiwan and the US.
According to the Department of Statistics, exports to these countries expanded by RM1.2 billion to Singapore, RM491.3 million to Vietnam, RM388.5 million to Japan, RM310 million to Taiwan and RM231.2 million to the US.
“Domestic exports recorded an increase of 11.9% or RM7.6 billion to RM71.7 billion. Re-exports was valued at RM13.5 billion registering a decline of 33.1% year-on-year and accounted for 15.8% of total exports,” said Chief Statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin.
During the month, imports recorded an increase of 4.4% year-on-year to RM74.3 billion. The higher imports were mainly from China (+RM1.2 billion), Saudi Arabia (+RM694.5 million), Australia (+RM468.6 million), Iraq (+RM330.3 million) and Indonesia (+RM220.4 million).
Total trade which was valued at RM159.5 billion increased RM4.1 billion or 2.6% in April 2019. The trade surplus shrank RM2.2 billion (-16.6%) from a year ago.
The main products which contributed to the expansion in exports in April 2019 were electrical and electronic products (+RM1.2 billion), refined petroleum products (+RM1.2 billion), liquefied natural gas (+RM749.7 million) and natural rubber (+RM334.9 million).
However, declines were recorded for crude petroleum (-RM1 billion), palm oil and palm oil-based products (-RM899 million) and timber and timber-based products (-RM58.1 million).
Meanwhile, the increase in imports by end use was mainly attributed to intermediate goods (+RM6.9 billion), consumption goods (+RM1.1 billion) and capital goods (+RM475.9 million).
