Malaysia's Total Trade Falls To US$34.35 Bln In August

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 5 (Bernama) -- Malaysia's total trade in August fell to RM104.84 billion (US$34.35 billion) compared with RM106.17 billion (US$34.79 billion) in August 2011 mainly due to lower trade with Thailand, Qatar and France. In a statement Friday, the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) said exports fell by 4.5 per cent in August to RM55.97 billion (US$18.33 billion) compared with August 2011 on weak demand from the eurozone, China and India. However, imports rose by 2.8 per cent to RM48.88 billion (US$16.01 billion) mainly attributed to increase in imports of capital goods by RM856.9 million (US$280.74 million), it said. "Three main categories of imports by end-use were intermediate goods valued at RM30.35 billion (US$9.94 billion), capital goods (RM7.71 billion) (US$2.52 billion) and chemicals and chemical products (RM4.29 billion) (US$1.4 billion)," it said. The major import products included electrical and electronic (E&E) products at RM15.03 billion (US$4.92 billion) and machinery, appliances and parts at RM4.51 billion (US$1.47 billion). Exports to Asean fell by 2.9 per cent from August 2011 to RM13.96 billion (US$4.57 billion), accounting for 24.9 per cent of Malaysia’s total exports due to lower exports of crude petroleum, chemicals and chemical products as well as iron and steel products. However, exports of refined petroleum products increased by 32.9 per cent, E&E products especially electronic integrated circuits, grew 3.6 per cent and optical and scientific equipment, mainly parts and accessories of optical instrument for inspecting semiconductor devices jumped by 33.4 per cent. Singapore was the largest export country with RM7.61 billion (US$2.49 billion), followed by Thailand at RM2.66 billion (US$871.4 million) and Indonesia at RM1.49 billion (US$488.1 million). Exports to the US continued to register positive growth with 4.2 per cent expansion to RM5.22 billion (US$1.71 billion) compared with August 2011, contributed mainly by E&E products, which expanded by 12 per cent. The exports to China eased by 10.6 per cent to RM7.51 billion (US$2.46 billion), attributed mainly to lower manufacturing activities and domestic demand in the country. Exports to Japan increased by 15.4 per cent to RM7.05 billion (US$2.3 billion), with higher exports of liquefied natural gas. The uncertain economic situation in the eurozone continued to impact Malaysia's exports to the European Union (EU), said MITI. In August 2012, exports to the region fell by 24.2 per cent to RM4.75 billion (US$1.55 billion). Exports to major EU countries including Netherlands decreased by 16.1 per cent to RM1.41 billion (US$461.86 million), Germany eased 25.4 per cent RM1.25 billion (US$409.45 million) and the United Kingdom declined by 19.4 per cent to RM477.6 million (US$156.44 million). In terms of products, the decline in exports to the EU was due to lower exports of E&E products, chemicals, crude rubber and palm oil. Malaysia’s total trade was sustained for the first eight months of 2012, expanding 4.2 per cent to RM868.8 billion (US$284.6 billion) compared with the corresponding period in 2011. Exports rose by 1.5 per cent to RM465.29 billion (US$152.41 billion) while imports grew by 7.4 per cent to RM403.5 billion (US$132.17 billion). Among the top five trading partners, expansion in trade was recorded with Asean (+7.7 per cent), China (+10.5 per cent) and Japan (+4.5 per cent) while trade with the EU decreased by 2.7 per cent and the US eased by 1.5 per cent. Trade with Asean was valued at RM236.57 billion (US$77.49 billion) accounting for 27.2 per cent of Malaysia’s trade compared with 26.3 per cent between January and August 2011. Exports to the US for the first eight months 2012 expanded by 5.8 per cent to RM40.38 billion (US$13.22 billion) while imports contracted by 8.9 per cent to RM34.13 billion (US$11.17 billion) with total trade declining by 1.5 per cent to RM74.51 billion (US$24.4 billion). Total imports during January-August 2012 increased by 7.4 per cent to RM403.5 billion (US$132.16 billion) contributed by intermediate goods, capital goods and consumption goods. -- BERNAMA