Malaysia’s Trade Continues To Expand, April Records 15% Surplus With Growth Boosted By E&E

Malaysia continues to perform exceptionally well in trade, momentum grew better in April 2022 with trade, exports, imports, and trade surplus registered the highest monthly value.

Trade rose by 21.3% to RM231.44 billion compared to April 2021, the 15th consecutive month of double-digit growth. Exports increased by 20.7% to RM127.49 billion, the ninth successive month of double-digit year-on-year expansion. Imports grew by 22% to RM103.95 billion and trade surplus expanded by 15.7% to RM23.55 billion.

The export growth was boosted by higher shipments of electrical and electronic (E&E) products mainly semiconductors driven by global digitalisation trends. Exports to major markets notably ASEAN, China, the United States (US), the European Union (EU) and Japan recorded double-digit growth. Meanwhile, exports to the US recorded the highest monthly value ever.
On a month-on-month (m-o-m) basis, trade, exports, imports and trade surplus declined by 2.1%, 3.1%, 0.9% and 11.6%, respectively.

For the period of January to April 2022, the highest value was recorded for trade, exports, imports, and trade surplus. Trade climbed by 22.9% to RM856.21 billion compared to the same period last year. Exports jumped by 21.8% to RM472.39 billion
and imports were up by 24.3% to RM383.82 billion. The trade surplus grew by 12.1% to RM88.57 billion.

Export Performance of Major Sectors
Double-Digit Export Growth Recorded for All Major Sectors Exports of manufactured goods in April 2022 which absorbed 84.2% of total exports rose by 17.2% y-o-y to RM107.39 billion underpinned by higher exports of E&E products, manufacturers of metal, chemicals, and chemical products as well as palm oilbased manufactured products, each recorded more than RM1 billion increase in exports.

Exports of agriculture goods (8% share) increased by 29.9% to RM10.2 billion compared to April 2021, the 14th consecutive month of double-digit growth. The expansion was driven by higher exports of palm oil and palm oil-based agriculture
products. Exports of mining goods (7.3% share) expanded by 64.6% y-o-y to RM9.33 billion, the 13th successive month of double-digit growth. The increase was bolstered by growing exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and crude petroleum.

Major exports in April 2022:
• E&E products, valued at RM47.06 billion and accounted for 36.9% of total exports, increased by 27% from April 2021;
• Petroleum products, RM9.53 billion, 7.5% of total exports, decreased by 4%;
• Palm oil and palm oil-based agriculture products, RM8.02 billion, 6.3% of total exports, increased by 35%;
• Chemicals and chemical products, RM7.22 billion, 5.7% of total exports, increased by 33.1%; and
• Manufactures of metal, RM7.13 billion, 5.6% of total exports, surged by 52.6%. Compared to March 2022, exports of manufactured, agricultural, and mining goods contracted by 1.9%, 3.5%, and 13.4%, respectively.

For the period of January to April 2022, exports of manufactured goods grew by 17.6% to RM399.04 billion compared to the same period of 2021, boosted by strong exports of E&E products, petroleum products, manufacturers of metal, chemicals, and chemical products as well as palm oil-based manufactured products. Exports of agriculture goods climbed by 43.6% to RM37.37 billion buoyed by higher exports of palm oil and palm oilbased agriculture products. Exports of mining goods surged by 60.4% to RM33.74 billion contributed by higher shipments of LNG, crude petroleum as well as metalliferous ores, and metal scrap.

Trade Performance with Major Markets
ASEAN – Robust Growth for Trade, Exports,
and Imports In April 2022, trade with ASEAN accounted for 26.1% of Malaysia’s total trade, growing by 21.4% y-o-y to RM60.48 billion. Exports was up by 14.2% to RM34.84 billion driven mainly by higher exports of E&E products. Imports from ASEAN jumped by 32.7% to RM25.64 billion.

Exports to major markets in ASEAN that recorded increases were Singapore which grew by RM1.42 billion, due to higher exports of E&E products, Thailand (↑RM1.07 billion, crude petroleum), Viet Nam (↑RM1.05 billion, E&E products), Indonesia (↑RM728.5 million, petroleum products) and the Philippines (↑RM229.2 million, iron and steel products). Compared to March 2022, trade, exports and imports fell by 8%, 11.4%, and 3%, respectively.

In the first four months of 2022, trade with ASEAN edged up by 26.4% to RM229.62 billion compared to the same period of 2021. Exports to this region rose by 23.0% to RM134.3 billion following strong exports of E&E products, petroleum products as well as chemicals and chemical products. Imports from ASEAN increased by 31.7% toRM95.32 billion.

China – E&E Products Boosted Export Growth
In April 2022, trade with China which comprised 16.9% of Malaysia’s total trade expanded by 10.1% y-o-y to RM39.22 billion. Exports to China registered a growth of 12.4% to RM17.36 billion bolstered mainly by higher exports of E&E products. Imports from China climbed up by 8.3% to RM21.85 billion.

Compared to March 2022, trade and imports were up by 0.5% and 3%, respectively while exports declined by 2.4%.
Trade with China during the first four months of 2022 grew by 17.5% to RM150.56 billion compared to the same period of 2021. Exports edged up by 17.4% to RM67.42 billion on account of higher exports of E&E products, LNG as well as palm oil and palm oilbased agriculture products. Imports from China rose by 17.6% to RM83.14 billion.

The US – Exports Recorded Highest Value
Trade with the US in April 2022 which represented 9.6% of Malaysia’s total trade increased by 21.1% y-o-y to RM22.13 billion. Exports registered highest value at RM14.35 billion, expanding by 18.1% on the back of higher exports of E&E products. Imports from the US expanded by 27.2% to RM7.78 billion. On a m-o-m basis, trade, exports and imports grew by 5.6%, 5.7% and 5.3% respectively.

For the period of January to April 2022, trade with the US climbed by 16.7% to RM78.79 billion compared to the same period of 2021. Exports increased by 12.7% to RM50.43 billion owing mainly to higher exports of E&E products. Imports from the US rose by 24.7% to RM28.35 billion.

The EU – Exports Registered Seven Consecutive Months of Double-Digit Growth
Trade with the EU which contributed 8% to Malaysia’s total trade in April 2022 leaped by 24.2% y-o-y to RM18.5 billion. Exports edged up by 30.5% to RM11.54 billion, the seventh consecutive month of double-digit growth supported by higher exports of manufactures of metal as well as E&E products. Imports from the EU rose by 15.1% to RM6.96 billion.

Breakdown of exports to the top 10 EU markets which accounted for 91.6% of Malaysia’s total exports to the EU were:
• Netherlands RM4.26 billion, increased by 71.6%;
• Germany RM2.50 billion, ↓5.4%;
• Belgium RM721.6 million, ↑33.7%;
• Italy RM714.5 million, ↑14.6%;
• Spain RM703.8 million, ↑80.4%;
• France RM488.2 million, ↑13.9%;
• Poland RM372.7 million, ↑36.2%;
• Czech Republic RM302.4 million, ↑49.0%;
• Slovenia RM264.0 million, ↑16.5%; and
• Hungary RM241.2 million, ↑50.3%.

Exports to the EU major markets that grew were the Netherlands which increased by RM1.78 billion due to higher demand for manufactures of metal. Exports to Belgium expanded by RM182 million and Italy (↑RM90.9 million) on account of strong exports of iron and steel products.
On a month-on-month basis, trade and imports grew by 1.1% and 4%, respectively while exports declined by 0.5%.

During the first four months of 2022, trade with the EU climbed by 19.7% to RM68.33 billion compared to the same period of 2021. Exports jumped by 20.5% to RM41.52 billion, underpinned by strong exports of E&E products, manufacturers of metal as well as palm oil and palm oil-based products. Imports from the EU was up by 18.5% to RM26.81 billion.

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