KUALA LUMPUR (March 4): Malaysia's exports declined 1.5% year-on-year (y-o-y) to RM84.1 billion in January on lower sales of electrical and electronic (E&E) products and commodities comprising crude petroleum, liquefied natural gas (LNG), timber and natural rubber, the Statistics Department said today.

In a statement on its website, the department said that in geographical terms, Malaysia's exports to China fell from a year earlier.
 
"On a y-o-y basis, exports decreased 1.5% to RM84.1 billion. The main products that attributed to the decrease were: E&E products, which accounted for 38.6% of total exports, decreased RM1.9 billion or 5.5% to RM32.4 billion; LNG, which accounted for 4.7% of total exports, shrank RM1.2 billion or 22.8% to RM4.0 billion due to the decrease in both export volume (-12.2%) and average unit value (-12.0%); crude petroleum (2.6% of total exports) dropped RM268.8 million or 10.9% to RM2.2 billion due to the decrease in export volume (-22.0%) as average unit value increased 14.3%; timber and timber-based products (2.3% of total exports) declined RM123.0 million or 5.9% to RM2.0 billion; and natural rubber (0.3% of total exports) dropped RM1.4 million or 0.5% to RM273.7 million due to the decrease in export volume (-8.0%) as average unit value increased 8.1%," the department said.

The department said today the two major destinations for Malaysia’s exports in January were Singapore and China.

According to the department, Malaysia's exports to China declined 5.7% to RM10.4 billion.

"Exports to Singapore amounted to RM12.3 billion, which accounted for 14.6% of total exports, [and] increased RM108.0 million (+0.9%) compared with the previous year, the department said.

Malaysia's imports fell 2.4% y-o-y to RM72.1 billion in January. The department said the decrease in imports was mainly attributed to lower purchases of capital and consumption goods.

Malaysia's January export and import numbers translate into total trade of RM156.2 billion, which was lower from a year earlier, according to the department.

"Total trade amounted RM156.2 billion, shrank 2.0% or RM3.1 billion. It also posted a drop of RM4.1 billion or 2.6% compared with December 2019. The trade surplus, which was valued at RM12.0 billion, rose RM484.4 million (+4.2%) from a year ago. However, it registered a decrease of RM496.1 million or 4.0% compared with the previous month," the department said.