Friday 29 Mar 2024
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KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 3): Malaysia's total trade for the first half of 2018 (1H18) rose by 5.3% year-on-year (y-o-y) to RM904.73 billion, according to the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI).

According to MITI's statement today, for 1H18, exports accelerated by 7% y-o-y to RM482.64 billion while imports grew at a slower pace of 3.4% y-o-y to RM422.09 billion. Trade surplus surged by 41% to RM60.56 billion compared to 1H17.

Meanwhile, total trade in June 2018 rose 11% y-o-y to RM151.27 billion, it said.

MITI said the expansion was supported mainly by higher trade with China, ASEAN, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, the European Union (EU), Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates (UAE).

It explained that exports in June 2018 increased by 7.6% y-o-y to RM78.66 billion, sustaining the positive momentum for four straight months, while imports rose by 14.9% y-o-y to RM72.61 billion.

Trade surplus in June 2018 was recorded at RM6.04 billion. MITI said this was the 248th consecutive month of trade surplus since November 1997.

On a month-on-month (m-o-m) basis, total trade, exports, imports and trade surplus contracted by 3.1%, 4.2%, 1.9% and 25.5%, respectively.

The ministry said total trade in the second quarter of 2018 (2Q18) amounted to RM462.84 billion, an expansion of 8% from 2Q17.

It said total exports in the quarter reached RM245.01 billion, 8.2% higher compared to the same period last year, while imports increased by 7.7% y-o-y to RM217.83 billion.

Trade surplus in 2Q18 was recorded at RM27.18 billion, a 12.9% increase from RM24.07 billion registered in 2Q17.

MITI said exports of manufactured goods in June 2018 increased by 12.7% y-o-y or RM7.55 billion to RM67.19 billion, accounting for 85.4% of Malaysia's total exports.

It said the expansion was driven mainly by higher exports of electrical and electronic (E&E) products, petroleum products, manufactures of metal as well as chemicals and chemical products.

Meanwhile, trade with China in 1H18 expanded by 7.1% to RM149.18 billion compared to the same period of 2017.

Exports to China in 1H18 increased by 8% y-o-y to RM64.56 billion, attributed to higher exports of E&E products, chemicals and chemical products, manufactures of metal as well as optical and scientific equipment. Imports from China increased 6.4% y-o-y to RM84.62 billion.

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