Malaysia's Trade in June 2010

Slower Malaysia export growth in June
By Rupa Damodaran
rupabanerji@nstp.com.my
2010/08/04
MALAYSIAN exports in June 2010 grew slower than market expectations, in tandem with the performance of regional peers.

The Ministry of International Trade and Industry (Miti) said exports rose by 17.2 per cent year-on-year in June, while imports grew by 30.1 per cent year-on-year. Trade surplus stood at RM6.04 billion.

Miti said the rise in exports was broad-based, namely electrical and electronic products, liquefied natural gas, chemicals and chemical products, optical & scientific equipment, palm oil, manufactures of metal, crude petroleum, crude rubber and rubber products.

Commenting on the latest trade data, HSBC Bank Asian economist Wellian Wiranto said it points towards slower exports momentum going forward alongside its regional peers.

The latest reading is the slowest since November last year due largely to the petering out of base effects.

"All in all, the picture for Malaysia's exports is roughly the same as the picture we see for the region in general going forward: a less enthusiastic pace of expansion, but no double-dip," he said.

Wiranto said given the relative slowdown in trading activities around the region, it may get comparatively harder for the exports of electronics, although he expects receipts from the segment to be within the RM19 billion to RM21 billion range.

Malaysia's June Exports Rise 17.2%
(RTTNews) - Malaysia's exports continue to rise in June mainly due to higher demand for the country's electrical and electronic products as well as liquefied natural gas data released by the Department of Statistics showed Tuesday.
Exports climbed 17.2% year-on-year to MYR 52.83 billion in June, Minister of International Trade and Industry YB Dato' Sri Mustapa Mohamed said. Growth in exports was in line with economists' forecast. Imports grew 30.1% annually to MYR 46.79 billion, mainly due to higher imports of intermediate and capital goods. Growth in imports exceeded economists' expectations for an increase of 24.8%.
The trade balance posted a surplus of MYR 6.04 billion, making it the 152nd consecutive month of trade surplus since November 1997, the statistical office said. Meanwhile, economists were looking for a MYR 8 billion surplus. Malaysia had surplus of MYR 8.13 billion for May.
Month-on-month, exports rose 1.1% and imports were up 6% in June. Even so, exports fell 1% quarter-on-quarter to MYR157.13 billion during the April to June period, while imports expanded 11.6% to MYR 133.70 billion.
Total trade amounted to MYR 99.62 billion in June, posting an increase of 22.9% year-on-year and 3.3% compared to May. During the second quarter, total trade was MYR 290.82 billion, representing an increase of 4.4% on a quarterly basis.
In June, the increase in exports was driven by stronger demand for electrical and electronic products, liquefied natural gas, chemicals and chemical products, optical and scientific equipment, palm oil, manufactures of metal, crude petroleum as well as crude rubber and rubber products.
Exports to China, Hong Kong, EU states as well as Japan rose briskly during the month, while shipments to ASEAN nations and the U.S also increased at a remarkable pace. In June, China, Japan and Singapore remained Malaysia's major import partners.
During the first half of the year, total trade increased 28.9% to MYR 569.31 billion. Exports expanded 26.1% to MYR 315.83 billion, while imports rose 32.5% to MYR 253.48 billion. The trade during the six-month period resulted in a surplus of MYR 62.36 billion.
Malaysia's economic growth in the first quarter was the fastest in a decade. The gross domestic product rose 10.1% year-on-year in the first three months, the largest expansion since the first quarter of 2000, when the economy expanded 11.7%.
The Malaysian Institute of Economic Research expects the economy to expand 6.5% and 5.2% in 2011. On July 8, the Malaysian central bank increased its key policy rate for the third time this year as the domestic economy is expected to remain strong, along with moderate inflation levels for the rest of this year.

Malaysia's Export Growth Slows as Risks to Global Economic Rebound Emerge
Bloomberg
By Ranjeetha Pakiam - Aug 3, 2010 Malaysia’s exports rose at the slowest pace in seven months as risks to the global economic recovery emerge with Europe’s sovereign-debt crisis and slowing growth in the U.S.
Overseas shipments climbed 17.2 percent in June from a year earlier to 52.8 billion ringgit ($16.7 billion) after gaining a revised 21.8 percent in May, the trade ministry said in a statement in Kuala Lumpur today. The median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey of 13 economists was for a 17.3 percent increase.
Growth has slowed in the U.S. and China, among Malaysia’s biggest markets, and governments in Europe are implementing austerity measures to reduce budget deficits, threatening demand for Asian goods including Unisem (M) Bhd. computer chips. Southeast Asia’s third-largest economy may expand at a slower pace in the second half as exports cool, giving the central bank scope to stop raising interest rates.
“With this growing issue of concern about the external condition I think Bank Negara Malaysia is likely to pause on its interest rate hikes,” Suhaimi Ilias, an economist at Maybank Investment Bank Bhd., said before the report “The recent indicators coming up from America and China, especially with regards to the manufacturing industries, seems to suggest that this key driver of manufacturing exports elsewhere is kind of moderating.”
China’s manufacturing grew at the slowest pace in 17 months in July as the government clamped down on property speculation and investment in energy-intensive and polluting factories, according to a Purchasing Managers’ Index released Aug. 1. The U.S. Institute for Supply Management’s manufacturing gauge fell to 55.5 in July from 56.2 a month earlier.
Malaysia’s central bank Governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz has raised the benchmark interest rate to 2.75 percent this year from a record low as economic growth surged to the fastest pace in at least a decade in the first quarter.
The Malaysian ringgit is Asia’s biggest gainer against the U.S. dollar this year, climbing 8.4 percent.
The country’s imports rose 30.1 percent in June from a year earlier. The trade surplus narrowed to 6.04 billion ringgit from 8.1 billion ringgit in May.


Malaysia’s exports advance 17.2% in June

Pace moderates, indicating that export growth may have peaked, say analysts
PETALING JAYA: Malaysia’s June 2010 external trade continued to see strong growth, albeit at a moderating pace, with exports expanding 17.2% year-on-year (y-o-y) to RM52.83bil, while imports soared 30.1% y-o-y to RM46.79bil.
Overall, total trade grew 22.9% y-o-y to RM99.62bil, the International Trade and Industry Ministry said yesterday.
Malaysia continued to enjoy healthy trade surplus, which totalled RM6.04bil in June. That was the 152th consecutive month of trade surpluses for the country since November 1997.
“While exports continued to expand at double-digit pace in June as it did in preceding months in the first half of the year, the expected continued moderation in growth rate suggests to us that Malaysia’s export growth could have already peaked in the first quarter,” Singapore-based Standard Chartered Bank economist Alvin Liew said in his note.
June’s exports growth was somewhat in line with economists’ expectations.
According to TA Research economist Patricia Oh, given that exports growth has come off the low-base effect, a slowing growth is only natural.
“We believe that problems in Europe and easing Chinese appetite, amid the backdrop of high employment and weaker consumer sentiment in G3 markets (US, Japan and Euro region) could be reasons for the growth moderation,” Liew said.
On the imports growth in June, which exceeded economists’ expectations, economists attributed that to improvement in both domestic demand and higher capital investment by companies, reflecting stronger confidence. Oh said: “The recent strengthening of the ringgit against major currencies has also boosted Malaysia’s purchasing power to import more.”
Economists said June external trade data provided indications of a moderating industrial output growth for June as well as the declining pace of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth for the second quarter.
Yesterday, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop said Malaysia was expected to register a high single-digit growth for the second quarter of this year. This compared with the 10.1% y-o-y GDP growth that the country registered for the first quarter. During the April-June period this year, the country’s total trade rose 4.4% y-o-y to RM290.82bil, compared with 32.6% y-o-y growth to RM278.51bil for the January-March quarter.
Products that contributed to exports growth in June were electrical and electronic (E&E) products valued at RM21.3bil (40.2% of total exports), palm oil at RM4.1bil (7.7%), chemicals and chemical products at RM3.4bil (6.3%), liquefied natural gas at RM3bil (5.7%) and crude petroleum at RM2.4bil (4.5%).
Singapore, China, the US, Japan and Hong Kong were the top five export destinations, accounting for 50.8% of Malaysia’s total exports in June. Asean accounted for RM12.97bil, or 24.6%, of Malaysia’s total exports, up by 7% from June 2009.
Malaysia’s major import products in June were E&E products valued at RM17bil (36.2% of total imports), chemicals and chemical products at RM4.4bil (9.3%), and machinery, appliances and parts at RM4bil (8.5%). The main import sources were China, Japan, Singapore, the US and Thailand, which collectively represented 54.3% share of the total.


August 03, 2010 18:34 PM
Malaysia's June Trade Surplus At RM6.04 Billion
KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 3 (Bernama) -- Malaysia registered a trade surplus of RM6.04 billion in June 2010, making it the 152nd consecutive month of trade surplus since November 1997.

International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed said total exports in June 2010 was RM52.83 billion, an increase of 17.2 per cent compared with June 2009 while import grew by 30.1 per cent to RM46.79 billion.

Total trade expanded by 22.9 per cent to RM99.62 billion from a year ago.

For the six-month period from January to June 2010, total trade increased by 28.9 per cent to RM569.31 billion, in which exports climbed to RM315.83 billion while imports rose by 32.5 to RM253.48 billion, resulting in a trade surplus of RM62.36 billion.

Compared with May 2010, exports in June 2010 meanwhile was up 1.1 per cent while imports rose six per cent and total trade increased 3.3 per cent.

Mustapa said total trade during the second quarter of 2010 was RM290.82 billion, an increase of 4.4 per cent compared with the first quarter of 2010.

Exports during the second quarter of 2010 decreased by 1.0 per cent to RM157.13 billion from the first quarter of 2010 while imports expanded by 11.6 per cent to RM133.70 billion.

He said the increase in exports was broad-based, namely electrical and electronic (E&E) products, liquefied natural gas (LNG), chemicals and chemical products, optical & scientific equipment, palm oil, manufactures of metal, crude petroleum, crude rubber and rubber products.

Exports to Asean for the month reviewed amounted to RM12.97 billion, an increase of seven per cent from a year ago and accounted for 24.6 per cent of Malaysia's total exports in June.

The exports were mainly E&E products, manufactures of metal, optical and scientific equipment as well as machinery, appliances and parts.

Total imports rose by 30.1 per cent to RM46.79 billion year-on-year due mainly to higher imports of intermediate and capital goods, the minister said.

The three main categories of imports by end users were intermediate goods valued at RM32.63 billion or 69.7 per cent of total imports, capital goods at RM6.42 billion or 13.7 per cent of total imports and consumption goods at RM3.04 billion or 6.5 per cent of total imports.

Asean imports accounted for RM13.05 billion or 27.9 per cent of Malaysia's total imports in June 2010.

-- BERNAMA