KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 4 — Malaysia’s total trade recorded an upward trend, growing 5.5 per cent in December 2021 compared to the previous month, said the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM).
In a statement today, it said the export value rose by 10.4 per cent to RM123.8 billion against November 2021, reflected by the increment in exports of machinery and transport equipment (+22.4 per cent), animal and vegetable oils and fats (+13.2 per cent), and miscellaneous manufactured articles (+7.8 per cent).
“On the other hand, imports declined by 0.4 per cent month-on-month (m-o-m) in December 2021 to RM92.9 billion, reflected by the deterioration in imports of mineral fuels (-25.9 per cent), animal & vegetable oils & fats (-20.7 per cent), and inedible crude materials (-2.4 per cent), while trade value soared by 63.6 per cent m-o-m to RM31 billion,” it said.
Chief statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the export unit value index grew 0.2 per cent in December 2021 compared with the preceding month, contributed by the increases in index of animal and vegetable oils and fats (+3.4 per cent), machinery and transport equipment (+0.8 per cent), and chemicals (+0.8 per cent).
“Likewise, the export volume index grew 10.1 per cent in the same month due to the increases in index of machinery & transport equipment (+21.5 per cent), chemicals (+9.3 per cent), and miscellaneous manufactured articles (+7.7 per cent).
“The seasonally adjusted export volume index rose 6.0 per cent from 162.2 points to 172.0 points. On annual comparison, both export unit value and volume index grew 15.8 per cent and 11.6 per cent, respectively,” he said .
Mohd Uzir said the import unit value index also grew 0.2 per cent in December 2021 as compared with November 2021, attributed to the increases in index of animal and vegetable oils and fats (+7.0 per cent), machinery and transport equipment (+0.5 per cent), and manufactured goods (+0.5 per cent).
On the other hand, he said the import volume index dropped by 0.6 per cent in December 2021 as compared to the preceding month, attributed by the deterioration in index of animal and vegetable oils and fats (-25.9 per cent), mineral fuels (-23.9 per cent), and inedible crude materials (-2.2 per cent).
“The seasonally adjusted import volume index in December 2021 decreased by 1.0 per cent to 166.8 points from 168.7 points. On a year-on-year basis, both the import unit value and volume indices expanded 8.4 per cent and 14.1 per cent, respectively,” he said.
DOSM also reported that Malaysia’s terms of trade increased by 0.04 per cent m-o-m to 107.1 points in December 2021. Malaysia’s terms of trade performance sustained positive growth at 6.9 per cent from 100.2 points in December of the previous year.
