PETALING JAYA: The country’s trade performance saw a significant improvement in March, with total shipment growing 27.3% year-on-year (y-o-y) to a new high of RM236.6bil.
According to the Statistics Department, during the month in review, the country’s exports and imports rose 25.4% and 29.9% y-o-y to RM131.6bil and RM104.9bil, respectively.
“Export value growth in March 2022 was supported by both domestic exports and re-exports,” said chief statistician Datuk Seri Mohd Uzir Mahidin in a statement.
“Domestic exports were valued at RM106.9bil, contributing 81.2% to total exports, picking up strongly 22.8% y-o-y. Meanwhile, re-exports amounted to RM24.7bil, expanding by 38% as compared to March 2021,” he added.
MIDF Research said Malaysia’s external trade numbers continued to surprise on the upside in March, driven by a jump in mining exports on top of stronger electrical and electronic (E&E) exports.
“This shows that Malaysia, as a commodity-exporting country, stands to benefit from higher commodity prices. However, we are still cautious on the outlook, given the extended lockdown and slowdown in China and Russia’s ongoing military action in Ukraine,” the brokerage said.
“The near-term outlook for production and trade can be constrained by prolonged disruption in the global supply chain and increased inflationary pressures.
“Nevertheless, we opine the continued expansion in global demand for E&E and commodities will support the overall export outlook. Moreover, the reopening of economies will facilitate growing trade activity this year,” it added.
With concerns over the near-term outlook, MIDF Research maintained its growth forecast for exports and imports at 7.8% and 9.6%, respectively, for 2022.
The Statistics Department said export growth was contributed mainly by robust external demand for E&E products and commodity-based products, namely, palm oil and palm oil-based products, petroleum products, liquefied natural gas (LNG) as well as crude petroleum.
E&E product exports soared 32.8% y-o-y to a record high of RM52.8bil in March 2022, accounting for 40.1% of total exports compared with RM39.8bil in March 2021 due to the stronger exports of electronic integrated circuits underpinned by growing digitalisation trends.
“Exports to major markets notably Asean, China, the United States, the European Union (EU) and Japan recorded double-digit growth. The highest export monthly value was registered to Asean, the EU and Japan,” it said.
The month of March 2022 also marked the first time ever for the country’s imports to surpass the RM100bil mark.
The Statistics Department said this was in line with the surge in intermediate goods that signified a positive sign of domestic economic activity.
Most of the country’s imports come from intermediate goods, as they are valued at RM58.9bil or 56.1% of the country’s total imports. This is a 34.9% y-o-y increase following higher imports of fuels and lubricants, particularly mineral fuels and oils, according to the department.
Meanwhile, Malaysia marked its 23rd consecutive month of trade surplus since May 2020 as the country recorded a 10.3% y-o-y growth with a trade surplus of RM26.7bil in the month of March 2022 compared with RM24.2bil in the preceding year.
The country also saw good growth in the first quarter of 2022 (1Q22), as it recorded 22.2% and 25.2% y-o-y improvement in exports and imports, respectively.
Exports and imports surged from RM282.2bil and RM223.5bil in 1Q21 to RM345.0bil and RM279.9bil in 1Q22, respectively.
This reflects the y-o-y growth of 23.6% in the country’s total trade in 1Q22 to RM624.9bil compared with RM505.7bil in the previous corresponding quarter.
In terms of trade surplus, the country saw a 10.9% increase to RM65.1bil in 1Q22 compared with RM58.7bil in 1Q21.