Trade surplus likely widened in June
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s trade surplus may have widened to RM9.3 billion last month compared with RM8.1 billion in May, according to Moody’s Analytics.
It said electrical and electronics products would remain the main strength for overall exports, although the segment was also cooling in annual terms on high base effects.
May trade surplus narrowed from RM13 billion in April as export and import growth had slowed dramatically, largely due to high base effects, it said.
In May, higher shipments of electrical and electronics products led to a 3.2 per cent year-onyear increase, or RM2.14 billion, to RM68.77 billion in manufactured goods exports. The RM68.77 billion accounted for 83.8 per cent of Malaysia’s total exports.
Moody’s Analytics said preliminary estimates suggested net exports would have made a similar contribution to the June quarter gross domestic product growth as in the first quarter.
The Malaysia External Trade Development Corp is expected to release June data on August 3.
The country’s trade edged up 4.2 per cent to RM753.46 billion from January to May compared with the corresponding period last year.
Exports for the five months rose 6.9 per cent year-on-year to RM403.99 billion while imports grew 1.3 per cent to RM349.48 billion.
Moody’s Analytics said an added drag for exports in May was pronounced weakness in palm oil shipments on both value and volume basis.
The situation was unlikely to have eased last month as prices had remained low and demand from the important India market had been weak, it added.