KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s exports contracted at a wider-than-expected rate in September, official data released Friday showed, hurt primarily by a sharp decline in crude oil and natural gas shipments.
Exports totalled 68.03 billion ringgit ($16.21 billion) in September, 3.0% lower than the 70.15 billion ringgit recorded in the same month last year, the Statistics Department said in a statement. That compares to the median 2.0% drop predicted by economists and August’s 1.5% year-on-year growth. On a month-on-month basis, exports increased 0.7% from 67.6 billion ringgit. Economists said the contraction in Malaysia’s September shipments was in line with shrinkages posted by major regional exporters such as China, Japan and Taiwan during the same month.
“Exports usually see a month-on-month pick up in October ahead of a seasonal decline in November before rising again in December,” said Julia Goh, an economist with United Overseas Bank. But this year’s fourth-quarter exports may be impacted by “cautious demand” due to near-term risk events, she added.
Exports of crude petroleum and liquefied natural gas plummeted 27% and 20% respectively in September. However, electrical and electronics shipments, which account for more than a third of Malaysia’s total exports, grew 0.3% year-on-year during the month. In terms of markets, exports to Japan and the European Union fell 12% and 8.4%, respectively, while shipments to the United States rose 5%. Exports to China, Malaysia’s biggest trading partner, slipped 1%.
Total imports meanwhile decreased 0.1% to 60.47 billion ringgit in September from 60.50 billion ringgit a year earlier, primarily driven by a 5.6% drop in the inflow of capital goods and a 4.8% slide in consumption goods.
However, imports rose 2.4% from 59.1 billion ringgit when compared to August. Malaysia’s trade surplus narrowed to 7.56 billion ringgit in September from 8.51 billion ringgit in August.
“The global economy is beginning to show some signs of a recovery with the global merchandise trade activity bouncing back into a growth following 22 consecutive months of contraction,” said RHB Research Institute. Malaysia’s exports growth will probably accelerate to 2.3% next year from 1.6% in 2016, the house said.
