KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s exports expanded at a faster-than-expected pace in October, thanks to a rise in shipments of electrical and electronics products, and palm oil that helped cushion a drop in exports of petroleum products and liquefied natural gas, official data showed Friday.
Exports in October rose 16.7% year-over-year to 75.8 billion ringgit ($18 billion), the Department of Statistics said in a statement.
Exports were supported by a sharp fall in the ringgit, which recently hit a 17-year low against the U.S. dollar. The result beat the median 7.4% rise forecast from a survey of nine economists by The Wall Street Journal. In September, exports rose 8.8% on-year. On a month-on-month seasonally adjusted basis, exports rose 4.9% to 71.9 billion.
Shipments of electronic products, which make up about a third of total exports, rose 22.7% year-over-year in October, while exports of timber and natural rubber rose 28.5% and 11.6% respectively. Exports of palm oil and palm-based products grew 5.7% to 6.2 billion ringgit.
MIDF Research said exports of electrical and electronic products will continue to boost Malaysia’s exports as these products continue to be in demand, especially in China–Malaysia’s biggest trading partner.
Exports of liquefied natural gas dropped 16.1%, while those of crude oil fell by 8.8% and refined petroleum products fell by 27.5%. Imports in October fell at slower-than-expected pace of 0.4% year-over-year to 63.7 billion ringgit, the department said. Economists in the poll had forecast a median 4.0% fall from a year earlier. This compared with September’s 9.6% on-year rise in imports.
The fall in imports was led by a 9.5% drop in imports of intermediate goods which offset the rise in imports of consumption and capital goods. Malaysia’s trade surplus in October rose to 12.2 billion ringgit from 9.7 billion ringgit in September, the department said.
