- Malaysia’s exports grew by +1.7% YoY to RM63.88bil in August (July: +0.8% YoY), driven by the exports of manufactured goods and mining products.

- The overseas shipment of E&E rebounded in August to register +3.7% YoY (July: -1.0%). Meanwhile, exports of non- E&E products grew by 0.8% (July: +1.7%).

- Shipments of palm oil contracted by 3.7% (July: +10.8%) while crude petroleum surged by 21.4% (July: +26.2%).

- In terms of export markets, we note that shipments to most export markets had improved in August except for exports to China and Indonesia.

- Owing to slower demand in China, Malaysia’s exports to China had posted a decline for the fourth consecutive month.

- Exports to China slipped by 21.9% YoY in August (July: -14.4%), due to lower exports of manufactures of metal, palm oil, E&E products as well as chemicals and chemical products.

- Meanwhile, exports to Indonesia contracted by 21.3% as a result of lower exports of petroleum products (July: -34.6%).

- Aside from that, exports to the US and EU had improved by 6.3% and 5.7% YoY, respectively. These compare to July’s exports to the US and EU of +4.5% and +8.9%, respectively.

- Meanwhile, Malaysia’s total imports had increased by 7.6% to RM60.02bil, driven by the increase in intermediate, capital and consumption goods (July: -0.7%).

- As such, total trade amounted to RM123.90bil, which was an increase of 4.5% YoY (vs. +0.1% in July).

- Trade balance had registered a slightly higher surplus of RM3.86bil in August, compared to RM3.64bil in July.

- On a YTD basis, total trade grew by 7.9% YoY driven by the advancement in exports of 9.5% and imports growth of 6.1%.

- Malaysia’s trade segments are expected to be weaker in 2H14 compared to 1H14 on the back of the slowdown in global demand.

- Cumulatively, net trades had accelerated by 52.4% YoY to RM52.31bil as at end-August.

- For the full year, we envisage Malaysia’s trade balance to register a surplus of RM74.31bil in 2014 (2013: RM70.63bil).

Source: AmeSecurities