October exports at record RM63.57 bln, up 15.8% on-year

KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 9): Malaysia’s exports rose to a record RM63.57
billion in October, up 15.8% from a year, with manufactured products
accounting for 64.8%, according to the Minister of International Trade
and Industry.

Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed said on Friday imports increased by 4.6%
to RM50.35 billion while total trade expanded by 10.6% to RM113.91
billion.

“Compared to the month of September 2011, total trade, exports and
imports in October 2011 were higher by 5.7%, 8.3%, and 2.6%,
respectively,” he said in a statement.

For the January-October period, Malaysia’s total trade breached RM1 trillion to RM1.052 trillion, up 8.8% from a year ago.

Mustapa said despite the challenging global trading environment and
slow down in advanced economies, exports increased by 9.1% to RM577.16
billion while imports rose by 8.5% to RM474.72 billion, resulting in a
trade surplus of RM102.44 billion. Growth in trade was supported by
regional markets in Asia, he said.

On the October exports data, he said manufactured exports accounted
for 64.8% of total exports. They showed a 2.2% increase on-year.

“Overall, manufactured goods contributed 10.5% to the growth in
October exports. The major thrust was provided by chemicals and chemical
products, manufactures of metal and rubber products, which increased by
24.3%, 38.5% and 23.7% respectively,” he said.

Mustapa noted that this growth offset the impact of the lower exports
of electrical and electronic (E&E) products, which declined by 9%.

Commodities, mainly liquefied natural gas (LNG), palm oil, crude and
refined petroleum products, contributed 76.2% to export growth in
October 2011. These commodities accounted for 29.1% share of the total
exports.

He said Asean had become showed a significant market, with October
exports up 16.2% on-year to RM15.8 billion and the region accounted for
24.8% of Malaysia’s total exports in October 2011.

The main commodities were which exported to Asean were refined
petroleum products, crude petroleum, chemicals and chemical products,
palm oil, manufactures of metal, tin, iron and steel products, optical
and scientific equipment, as well as, non-metallic mineral products.

He pointed out with the exception of Laos, Malaysia’s exports to all
Asean countries registered growth with the strongest growth to
Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam.

China imported RM8.66 billion of goods from Malaysia in October,
which was a 37.1% on-year increase. Among the products were commodities,
manufactured goods such as E&E products, manufactures of metal,
chemicals and chemical products and processed food.

Exports to Japan rose 29.6% to RM7.52 billion. Higher exports were
seen for LNG, machinery, appliances and parts, palm oil, wood products,
chemicals and chemical products as well as optical and scientific
equipment.

Exports to the European Union increased by 5% to RM6.49 billion, due
mainly to higher exports of manufactures of metal, as well as, palm oil.
Germany, the Netherlands and France remained the top three export
markets.

The US was the fourth largest export market, accounting for a 7.9% share of Malaysia’s total exports in October.