KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 19): Malaysia’s trade continued its upward trajectory in July, chalking up double-digit growth in trade, exports and imports.

In a statement on Friday (Aug 19), the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) said this is the highest monthly value for the month of July, as trade rose by 39.8% year-on-year (y-o-y) to RM252.65 billion in the 18th consecutive month of double-digit growth.

It said exports increased by 38% to RM134.07 billion, the 12th successive month of double-digit growth.

Imports expanded by 41.9% to RM118.58 billion, while the trade surplus grew by 14.3% to RM15.49 billion.

MITI said the export growth was driven by higher demand for electrical and electronics (E&E) products, petroleum products as well as liquefied natural gas (LNG).

It said exports to major trading partners, notably Asean, the US, the European Union (EU) and Japan, also recorded double-digit growth. The highest monthly export value was registered in Asean.

On a month-on-month (m-o-m) basis, trade slipped by 6.5%, followed by exports by 8.2%, imports by 4.5%, and the trade surplus by 29.1%.

The ministry said that for January to July, trade was up by 29.9% y-o-y to RM1.608 trillion.

Exports increased by 27.8% to RM873.07 billion, while imports grew by 32.5% to RM734.51 billion.

The trade surplus climbed by 7.4% to RM138.56 billion.

Trade, exports, imports and the trade surplus registered the highest value for the period.

MITI said exports of manufactured goods in July, which represented 83.7% of total exports, rose by 35.4% y-o-y to RM112.26 billion, the 12th straight month of double-digit expansion.

It said the growth was attributed to higher exports of E&E products, petroleum products, machinery, equipment and parts, manufactures of metals, optical and scientific equipment, as well as chemicals and chemical products, with each recording an increase of more than RM1 billion in exports.

The ministry said that for the first seven months of 2022, exports of manufactured goods grew by 23.9% y-o-y to RM733.81 billion, backed by robust exports of E&E products, petroleum products, manufactures of metals, palm oil-based manufactured products, chemicals and chemical products, machinery, equipment and parts, as well as optical and scientific products.

It said exports of agriculture goods climbed by 40.8% to RM71.51 billion, driven by higher exports of palm oil and palm oil-based agriculture products.

Exports of mining goods surged by 71.3% to RM63.84 billion, owing to strong exports of LNG, crude petroleum, metalliferous ores and metal scrap, as well as petroleum condensates and other petroleum oil.

MITI said that in July, trade with Asean surged by 63% y-o-y to RM73.31 billion, constituting 29% of Malaysia’s total trade.

It said exports rose by 55.6% to RM42.53 billion, the highest monthly value recorded thus far.

This was attributed to higher exports of E&E products, petroleum products, and machinery, equipment and parts.

Imports from Asean leaped by 74.4% to RM30.78 billion.

The ministry said that in July, trade with China, which made up 16.1% of Malaysia’s total trade, rose by 19.3% y-o-y to RM40.58 billion, the 20th successive month of double-digit growth.

It said exports to China registered a growth of 9.8% to RM15.88 billion, following robust exports of E&E products. Imports from China increased by 26.4% to RM24.7 billion.

Compared to June, trade contracted by 8.8%, followed by exports by 13.4% and imports by 5.6%.

Trade with China during the first seven months of 2022 expanded by 16.9% y-o-y to RM272.87 billion.

Exports grew by 13.2% to RM116.9 billion, boosted by higher exports of E&E products, LNG as well as metalliferous ores and metal scrap. Imports from China climbed by 19.8% to RM155.97 billion.

MITI said trade with the US, which contributed 9% of Malaysia’s total trade, grew by 29.7% y-o-y to RM22.82 billion in July.

Exports were up by 20.5% to RM13.3 billion, underpinned by strong exports of E&E products.

Imports from the US rose by 45.3% to RM9.52 billion.

On a m-o-m basis, imports rose by 5.4%, while trade decreased by 11.8%, and exports were down by 21%.

For January to July, trade with the US increased by 22.2% y-o-y to RM147.5 billion.

Exports expanded by 17% to RM92.55 billion, assisted by higher exports of E&E products. Imports from the US grew by 32.2% to RM54.95 billion.

Meanwhile, trade with the EU in July climbed by 14% y-o-y to RM17.04 billion, representing 6.7% of Malaysia’s total trade.

Exports increased by 21.2% to RM9.57 billion, the 10th consecutive month of double-digit growth, contributed by higher exports of E&E products, petroleum products as well as manufactures of metals.

Imports from the EU edged up by 6% to RM7.47 billion.