KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 1 — Malaysia’s exports increased 3.1 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) in July, albeit at a lesser rate than June’s 8.0 per cent, confounding house and market expectations.
Kenanga Research, in its economic viewpoint today, said that on a month-on-month basis, exports moderated last month after expanding at its fastest pace since April 1997.
“However, in terms of value, it was the second highest at RM92.5 billion compared with June’s RM82.8 billion registered after the record high in October 2018, signalling that the economy is gradually recovering from the second quarter economic slump,” it said.
It added that the data also showed that demand from China was slower, though this was slightly offsetted by the increase in shipments to the United States and Singapore.
“Exports to China had slipped to 13.9 per cent compared to 46.8 per cent in June as shipments eased to a two-month low, primarily due to a high base effect,” it said.
Meanwhile, CGS CIMB, in its economic note today, said Malaysia’s export strength was driven by exports in the manufacturing sector which increased 4.7 per cent y-o-y, as well as the agriculture sector which rose by 30.4 per cent y-o-y — the latter riding a 57.2 per cent y-o-y surge in vegetable fats and oils. — Bernama
