• Exports grew by 3.1% and imports rose 1.0%

• Trade surplus at 3-month high

• Exports of manufactured and mining continued to underpin export growth

• Imports of capital goods shrunk for the 5th consecutive month

• Exports hold up well

Malaysia’s export came in at 3.1% yoy to RM85.4bn in January (Dec’18: revised up to 5.1% from 4.8% previously). Domestic exports, which accounts for 79.5% of total exports, grew further by 3.9% yoy (Dec’18: 2.7%) cushioning a steeper decrease in re-export, defined as goods taken out of the country in the same form as they were imported in without any transformation, of 0.4% yoy (Dec’19: 18.7%), the lowest gain since Jun-17 mainly due to higher base effect. Meanwhile, import increased 1.0% yoy to RM73.9bn, the same pace as in the prior month.

As a result, trade surplus widened to RM11.5bn (Dec’18: RM10.7bn), the largest trade surplus since October last year and 19.2% higher compared to January 2018. This was the 255th consecutive month of trade surplus recorded since November 1997.

On monthly basis, exports and imports increased by 2.2% and 1.4% respectively in January. On seasonally adjusted terms, exports and imports rose by 7.9% and 2.6% respectively.

Total trade in January 2019 expanded by 2.1% to reach a value of RM159.3bn from January 2018. Expansion in trade were seen with China, Taiwan, Saudi Arabia, Korea, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the US.

Source: BIMB Securities Research - 5 Mar 2019