-  Malaysia’s exports grew by 18.9% YoY to RM66.37bil in April. This compares to our and consensus estimates of 9.0% and 9.6% respectively.

-  The overseas shipment of E&E, which accounts for 32.7% of exports, had advanced by 22% to RM21.68bil. Meanwhile, exports of non-E&E products grew by 17.5% YoY to RM44.69bil.

-  In terms of commodities, shipments of palm oil fell by 4.8% YoY to RM3.84bil while crude petroleum surged by a healthy 37.1% to RM3.51bil.

-  Meanwhile, Malaysia’s exports to China had advanced by 13.1% to RM7.94bil due to higher exports of E&E products, petroleum products, manufactures of metal and LNG (March: -1.8% YoY).

-  Similarly, exports to Japan improved by 16.5% to RM7.22bil as a result of stronger exports of LNG, crude and refined petroleum products, manufactures of metal, and E&E products (March: -0.9% YoY).

-  Aside from that, exports to the US and EU registered stronger growth rates in April. Exports to the US advanced by 17.1% while shipments to EU soared by 20.7%.

-  Other than that, exports to ASEAN remained strong as it expanded by 17.5% to RM18.83bil (vs. 10.9% YoY in March).

-  Within the ASEAN basin, Singapore led the pact with 14.0% contribution to total exports. Total shipments to Singapore grew by a healthy 11.5% to RM9.32bil during the month.

-  Meanwhile, imports registered a relatively slower growth rate as compared to exports. Overall import grew by 5% YoY to RM57.5bil in April.

-  As such, total trade advanced by 12.0%. On the other hand, trade balance registered a surplus of RM8.87bil in April (March: RM9.53bil).

-  On a YTD basis, exports advanced by 12.8% while imports grew by 5.4%. Cumulatively, net trades had amounted to RM35.19bil as at end-April (or an increase of RM17.8bil compared to a year ago).

-  Going forward, rising exports is expected to remain supportive of growth. In nominal terms, we envisage a healthy trade surplus of RM104.2bil in 2014 (2013: RM70.63bil).

-  As a recap, note that GDP growth in 1Q14 was bolstered by the relatively strong net trades. In nominal terms, net trades registered a healthy surplus of RM26.32bil in 1Q14 or +61.0% YoY.

Source: AmeSecurities