Malaysia’s exports in September expanded by a stronger pace of 13.6% to RM88.93bil, far exceeding a Bloomberg survey of a 1.7% increase, as shipments of manufactured products jumped.
The Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) said in a statement on Wednesday that the September exports were the highest export value ever recorded for this month. On a month-on-month basis, exports rose 12.4% from August’s RM79.13bil.
“Exports of manufactured goods in September 2020 which made up 87.7% of total exports picked up by 16.3% y-o-y to RM77.99bil.
“The expansion was due mainly to higher shipments of electrical and electronic (E&E) products, rubber products, other manufactures especially solid-state storage devices (SSD), iron and steel products as well as optical and scientific equipment,” it said.
Exports breakdown in September
Exports of agriculture goods (7.4% share) surged by 26.6% to RM6.55bil compared to September 2019 buoyed mainly by higher exports of palm oil and palm oil-based agriculture products.
Exports of mining goods (4.5% share) declined by 27.4% y-o-y to RM4.02 billion on account of lower exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG).
MITI said E&E products drove exports to ASEAN as exports rebounded by 6.7% to RM23.1bil.
As for exports to China, they sustained double-digit growth for four consecutive months, surging by 41.9% to RM15.56bil mainly on higher exports of E&E products, iron and steel products as well as palm oil and palm oil-based agriculture products.
Exports to the US continued to expand for four consecutive months, with double-digit growth of 22.1% to RM10.32bil in September 2020.
Malaysia’s total trade in September 2020 expanded by 5.5% to RM155.88bil compared to a year ago.
The trade surplus in September 2020 surged by 149.3% year-on-year (y-o-y) to RM21.97bil and was the highest trade surplus ever recorded for this month.
Compared to August 2020, total trade, exports and imports grew by 7.5%, 12.4%, and 1.6%, respectively. Trade surplus recorded a significant expansion of 66.3%.
Source: Today Online