KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia recorded another month of increased trade in June, with a 8.7% year-on-year (y-o-y) expansion to RM237.81bil.
The Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry (Miti) reported that the country's exports grew 1.7% to RM126.05mil during the month while imports jumped 17.8% to RM111.76bil for a trade surplus of RM14.29bil.
Over the first half of 2024, Malaysia's total trade was up 8.4% to RM1.4 trillion as compared to the same period in 2023.
During the period, exports rose 3.9% to RM731.11bil and imports, 13.8% to RM664.99bil.
"In terms of manufactured goods, exports of machinery, equipment and parts surged by 22.3% in 1H24 to RM33.23bil primarily for machines and apparatus for the manufacture of semiconductor and parts.
"This is in line with the projection by Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI) that global OEM sales of semiconductor manufacturing equipment is to grow by 3.4% in 2024," said Miti.
For exports, the higher growth in June was contributed mainly by higher demand for machinery, equipment and parts, liquefied natural gas (LNG) as well as palm oil-based manufactured products.
The expansion in shipments was mainly to major trading partners, especially Asean, the US and Taiwan.
According to Miti, exports of manufactured goods increased 1% to RM109.74bil in June on the back of higher exports of machinery, equipment and parts, palm oil-based manufactured products, rubber products as well as optical and scientific equipment.
The exports of mining goods experienced double-digit growth of 15.1% to RM7.95bil in June following an increase in the export of LNG due to increased volume as well as crude petroleum due to higher prices.
By destination, trade with Asean expanded 5.2% y-o-y to RM65.03bil with double-digit increases in shipments to Thailand, Vietnam and Brunei.
Exports to Malaysia's largest trading partner, China, was 2% lower y-o-y to RM16.36bil in June, but still up over the second quarter of the year.
Meanwhile, exports to the US rose 14% y-o-y to RM15.55bil, while shipments to Taiwan jumped a whopping 54.5% y-o-y to RM6.11bil, the highest value recorded so far.
The expansion in exports to Taiwan was due to growing exports of E&E products as well as optical and scientific equipment, said Miti.
Imports from Taiwan also rose strongly by 30.2% to RM8.94bil.
On Malaysia's imports, intermediate goods surged 37.2% to RM60.84bil following higher imports of parts and accessories of non-transport capital goods.
Imports of capital goods decreased 23.5% to RM11.99bil due to higher imports of non-transport capital goods, and imports of consumption goods grew 13.5% to RM9.25bil due to higher imports of processed food and beverages mainly for household consumption.
