KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia registered the 208th consecutive month of trade surplus in February 2015, with a value of RM4.52 billion, the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) said.
Trade for the month amounted to RM101.81 billion with exports and imports valued at RM53.17 billion and RM48.65 billion respectively, compared with RM58.91 billion and RM48.48 billion respectively in February 2014.
In a statement yesterday, MITI said the performance was similar to other regional countries which recorded lower growth in trade for February 2015.
“Among the factors that contributed to this were lower commodities prices, weak global demand particularly in China and the European Union as well as shorter working days,” it said.
For the cumulative two-month period, Malaysia registered a trade surplus of RM13.48 billion with total trade valued at RM220.07 billion, comprising RM116.77 billion in exports and RM103.29 billion in imports.
In February, MITI said, the contribution of exports of manufactured goods to Malaysia’s total exports increased to 78 per cent valued at RM41.45 billion compared to 75.4 per cent registered in the same month last year.
Higher exports were seen in machinery, appliances and parts (food processing machines and parts), optical and scientific equipment (disposable tubes for intravenous fluids, cannulae and the like), textiles, clothings and footwear as well as processed food.
However exports of refined petroleum products declined by RM1.59 billion with average unit value (AUV) lower by 32.5 per cent, impacting the export performance of manufactured goods, said MITI.
Exports of mining goods in February were valued at RM7.2 billion, contributing 13.5 per cent to Malaysia’s total exports.
This sector’s performance was affected by a decline in exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and crude petroleum.
Exports of LNG contracted due to a decline in AUV and volume by 8.7 per cent and 5.5 per cent respectively, while for crude petroleum, it was due to lower AUV of 46 per cent, said MITI.
It said exports of agricultural goods dropped by 24.6 per cent to RM4.16 billion due to lower exports of palm oil by RM1.06 billion, contributed by both lower AUV and volume.
Growth in exports was recorded for the ASEAN market (27.6 per cent), Japan (13.3 per cent) and the US (8.2 per cent). Of the top 10 EU markets, seven – the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, France, Belgium, Poland, Greece and Sweden – registered higher export growth in February.
Trade with the EU, valued at RM10.98 billion, increased by 10.1 per cent, with exports at RM5.2 billion, it said.
Meanwhile, exports to China were at RM5.79 billion. A slowdown in China’s manufacturing activities had caused several exports to decline, namely palm oil, E&E products, manufactures of metal (refined copper cathode), rubber products (compounded rubber), crude natural rubber as well as petroleum products, said MITI.
However, some products registered an increase in exports like machinery, appliances and parts (parts and accessories of machines and apparatus for manufacture of semiconductors) as well as chemicals and chemical products (polymer of ethylene in primary forms).
