Malaysia: Trade balance figures came on the strong side – UOB

UOB Group’s Senior Economist Julia Goh and Economist Loke Siew Ting review the latest trade balance figures in Malaysia.

Key Quotes

“Malaysia’s external trade surprisingly posted stronger gains last month, in part due to year-ago low base effects. Export growth hit a 16-month high of 48.2% y/y in Aug (Jul: +38.0%, UOB est: +30.5%, Bloomberg est: +34.3%) as a result of a triple-digit gain in re-exports (+112.5%) versus a double digit gain in domestic exports (+34.8%). Imports posted the largest ever annual growth on record, at 67.6% (Jul: +41.8%, UOB est: +48.0%, Bloomberg est: +48.0%). This brought trade surplus higher to MYR16.9bn from MYR15.6bn in the preceding month.”

“Increased shipments of commodity-based and electrical & electronic (E&E) products amid stronger demand from almost all trading partners were key drivers of robust export growth in Aug. Exports of petroleum products, liquefied natural gas (LNG) and optical & scientific equipment registered the highest monthly value in the month. Exports to the ASEAN region, South Korea and Hong Kong improved by more than 50% while shipments to the US jumped the most in 15 months by 38.2%.”

“Given that Aug’s export reading defied our earlier expectations of a soft patch in the greater part of 2H22 and the 30.3% year-to-date export growth moved further apart from our full-year growth target of 18.0%, we now upgrade our export growth projection to 26.0% for 2022 with statistical base and commodity price effects remaining wildcards for the outlook. We expect the recent retreat in major commodity prices and lingering global uncertainties particularly a global recession risk to weigh on Malaysia’s export outlook going into 2023, leading to a modest export growth of 1.5% next year.”