News Room - Business/Economics

Malaysia's total trade during the period of January-April 2015 was valued at RM459.02 billion, from RM473.12 billion posted in the same period last year, while the trade surplus was recorded at RM28.23 billion, said the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) today. In its Malaysia External Trade Statistics reports, MITI said exports during the period totalled RM243.62 billion and imports amounted to RM215.4 billion. "A similar trend was seen in the trade performance in other economies across Asia. "Export performance in January-April 2015 was affected mainly by lower exports of palm oil and petroleum-based products, namely refined petroleum products, liquefied natural gas (LNG) and crude petroleum," it said in a statement. It said these products, collectively, registered a RM17.83 billion decrease in exports. Increases in exports were recorded for electrical and electronics products (E&E) (RM3.46 billion), machinery, appliances and parts (RM1.28 billion), iron and steel products (RM763 million), optical and scientific equipment (RM533.2 million) as well as chemicals and chemical products (RM462.1 million). Marketwise, decreases in exports were recorded to China (RM2.81 billion), Japan (RM2.35 billion), Singapore (RM2.02 billion), Indonesia (RM1.72 billion), and Australia (RM1.56 billion). MITI said trade with free trade agreement partner countries in January-April 2015 was valued at RM289 billion with exports amounting to RM154.3 billion and imports totalled RM134.7 billion. "Exports to ASEAN were valued at RM17.15 billion, a decline by 8.9 per cent, mainly due to reduced exports of refined petroleum products by RM1.73 billion, while increases in exports were registered for E&E products (electronic integrated circuits), machinery, appliances and parts as well as chemicals and chemical products. "Exports to ASEAN accounted for 28.4 per cent of Malaysia's total exports in April 2015. Imports decreased by 8.4 per cent to RM13.63 billion," it added