KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 4): Malaysia's exports registered a 6.8% year-on-year (y-o-y) decrease to RM77.7 billion in September 2019, while imports increased by 2.4%.

Total trade, which was valued at RM147.1 billion, decreased RM4 billion or 2.7% as compared to September 2018.

The Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) attributed the decline to the fall in exports of electrical & electronic products (-RM4.1 billion), crude petroleum (-RM1.2 billion), refined petroleum products (-RM805.1 million), palm oil and palm oil-based products (-RM366.9 million), liquefied natural gas (-RM61.5 million) and natural rubber (-RM14.7 million).

Meanwhile, there were RM101.5 million worth more of exports of timber and timber-based products during the period tracked.

"Re-exports was valued at RM12.7 billion registering a decline of 17.6% y-o-y and accounted for 16.3% of total exports. Domestic exports also declined 2.9% (-RM2 billion) to RM65 billion," said the department's chief statistician Datuk Seri Mohd Uzir Mahidin in a statement today.

Meanwhile, imports registered an increase of 2.4% y-o-y to RM69.4 billion during the month.

The increases in imports by end use was mainly attributed to intermediate goods (RM4 billion) followed by consumption goods (RM777 million) and capital goods (RM531.7 million), he added.

This brings Malaysia's exports in the third quarter of 2019 to RM247 billion, down 1.9% y-o-y. Re-exports was valued at RM44 billion, down 9.2% y-o-y and accounting for 17.8% of total exports.

Domestic exports decreased marginally by 0.2% to RM203 billion from a year ago, while imports also registered a decrease of 5.8% y-o-y to RM213.5 billion, said DOSM.