KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s total trade for the first five months of 2014 (January to May) rose 10.2 per cent to RM597.22 billion from the same period a year ago, the Department of Statistics said today.
It said exports for the five months rose by 13.5 per cent to RM319 billion while imports expanded by 6.7 per cent to RM278.21 billion, and a trade surplus of RM40.79 billion was recorded for the period.
The department said significant expansion in trade was recorded over the past five months of the year with all major markets.
"Higher trade with Asean countries, the European Union, Japan and the United States supported the growth in total trade.
"Exports of manufactured goods for the period increased by 14.3 per cent to RM242.86 billion, accounting for 76.1 per cent of total exports," it said.
The increase in exports of manufactured goods was mainly due to the higher exports of electrical and electronics products (E&E) by 14.4 per cent, primarily electronic integrated circuits.
Malaysia's exports to Asean remained strong, growing 14.7 per cent to RM17.81 billion and accounting for 27.4 per cent of Malaysia’s total exports in May this year.
The expansion was contributed by higher exports of refined petroleum products; crude petroleum; palm oil; processed food; optical and scientific equipment; manufactures of plastics; machine appliances for specialised industries as well as E&E products, primarily parts for electronic integrated circuits.
Other manufactured goods that registered increases during the first five months of this year were petroleum products, chemicals and chemical products, machinery, appliances and parts as well as manufactures of metal.
The department said exports in May expanded by 16.3 per cent year-on-year to RM64.91 billion and imports increased by 11.9 per cent to RM59.19 billion from May 2013, while the trade surplus almost doubled to RM5.72 billion.
Total imports in May 2014 increased by 11.9 per cent to RM59.19 billion from May last year.
“It was contributed by imports of intermediate goods valued at RM34.57 billion, capital goods (RM8.39 billion) and consumption goods (RM4.25 billion).
“The major import products were E&E products, petroleum products and chemicals and chemical products,” the department added.-- Bernama