'I think it's okay that it didn't fall badly and there is an improvement.'
Malaysia's trade volume recorded a 2-digit growth for 21 consecutive months of 21.1% at RM245.18 billion during October 2022 compared to RM202.4 billion for the same period last year.
Looking at data published by the National Statistics Department (DOSM), the value of exports rose 15% to RM131.6 billion with imports increasing 29.2% to 113.5 billion while the trade surplus fell 32% to RM18.1 billion.
The surge in imports occurred for 21 consecutive months as a result of buoyant domestic demand, rising commodity prices and devaluation.
Meanwhile, exports experienced an increase for 26 months in a row due to a drop in overseas demand due to price surges and the factor that some countries are still facing Covid-19 restrictions.
The overall data details are as follows:
In the manufacturing sector, export value rose 12.6% to RM111.2 billion while import value jumped 23.5%.
For the mining sector, exports recorded an increase of 85.9% at RM11.2 billion while imports jumped 178% at RM12.5 billion.
The agricultural sector showed exports down 7% at RM8.6 billion compared to an increase of 10.4% at RM5.7 billion for imports.
Trade with ASEAN partners saw exports rise 25.3% to RM38.8 billion while imports surged 13.6% to RM24.6 billion.
Malaysia's 3 main trading partners are,
China (exports up 4.3% at RM18.4 billion, imports up 21.2% at RM23.1 billion).
Singapore (exports up 26.4% at RM19.5 billion, imports up 9.8% at RM10.8 billion).
United States (exports up 8.8% at RM13.7 billion, imports up 4042% at RM10.2 billion).
Imports from BEC and end users,
Intermediary goods rose 26.3% at RM60.6 billion.
Capital goods increased 42.1% at RM11.8 billion.
Consumer goods 21.6% at RM8.8 billion.
