KUALA LUMPUR, July 20 — Malaysia’s trade surplus widened by 11.3 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) to RM25.81 billion in June 2023, marking the 38th consecutive month of trade surplus since May 2020, said the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry (Miti).
The trade surplus for June 2023 was also the highest monthly value ever recorded for the month of June, it said in a statement today.
However, in tandem with slower global demand and lower commodity prices, total trade contracted by 16.3 per cent to RM222.14 billion in June 2023, while exports slipped by 14.1 per cent to RM123.98 billion and imports decreased by 18.9 per cent to RM98.16 billion.
“The performance was similar to other regional markets notably China, Singapore, Indonesia, Taiwan and South Korea, which recorded negative trade growth for June 2023,” Miti said.
In a separate statement, the Department of Statistics, Malaysia’s (DOSM) chief statistician Datuk Seri Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the decline in exports was mainly dragged by palm oil and palm oil-based agricultural products, which contracted by RM5.3 billion; petroleum products (-RM5.1 billion); liquefied natural gas (-RM2.6 billion); crude petroleum (-RM1.4 billion); palm oil-based manufactured products (-RM1.4 billion) and chemicals & chemical products (-RM1.3 billion).
While the contraction in imports was mainly weighed by electrical and electronic products (-RM7.2 billion); petroleum products (-RM7.1 billion); chemicals and chemical products (-RM2.2 billion); manufactures of metal (-RM1.5 billion); transport equipment (-RM1.4 billion); liquefied natural gas (-RM1.1 billion), as well as iron and steel products (-RM1.0 billion).
On exports destinations, he said the reduction in exports was mainly contributed to the United States which fell by RM3.2 billion, followed by the European Union (-RM2.7 billion), Bangladesh (-RM1.9 billion), Japan (-RM1.8 billion), India (-RM1.7 billion), Thailand (-RM1.6 billion), China (-RM1.5 billion), Taiwan (-RM1.1 billion) and Hong Kong (-RM1.0 billion).
While the decrease in imports was seen from China (-RM6.1 billion), Taiwan (-RM2.7 billon), South Korea (-RM2.6 billion), the United States (-RM2.5 billion), Singapore (-RM2.4 billion), Indonesia (-RM1.9 billion), Australia (-RM1.6 billion), the European Union (-RM1.6 billion) and India (-RM1.1 billion).
In comparison with May 2023, Mohd Uzir said exports and trade surplus in June 2023 grew 3.7 per cent and 64.4 per cent, respectively, while imports and total trade contracted 5.4 per cent and 0.5 per cent, respectively.
On a quarterly basis, DOSM said total trade for the second quarter (2Q) of 2023 declined 11.3 per cent to RM643.2 billion versus 2Q 2022, with exports dropping 11.1 per cent to RM348.7 billion from RM392.3 billion in the preceding year, and imports slid 11.5 per cent to RM294.5 billion.
In 2Q 2023, the trade surplus shrank 8.8 per cent to RM54.1 billion.
For the first six months of 2023, total trade decreased by 4.6 per cent from the same period last year due to the decline in exports (contracted 4.5 per cent) and imports (-4.7 per cent).
Nonetheless, the trade surplus recorded a higher value of RM118.5 billion in the first half of this year, it said.
— Bernama
