KUALA LUMPUR, May 20 — Malaysia’s trade continued its strong performance and maintained an upward trajectory in April 2024, recording double-digit growth of 12.1 per cent to RM221.74 billion compared to April 2023.

This was the fourth consecutive month of year-on-year (y-o-y) expansion.

In line with the global trade recovery, exports in April 2024 rebounded by 9.1 per cent y-o-y to RM114.72 billion after two consecutive months of contraction, according to the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry.

“The growth was contributed mainly by higher exports of machinery, equipment and parts, chemicals and chemical products, crude petroleum, palm oil and palm oil-based agriculture products as well as iron and steel products,” it said in a statement today.

In terms of markets, exports to Asean, the United States (US) and the European Union (EU) recorded double-digit growth while exports to the People’s Republic of China (China) rebounded from negative growth recorded in the previous month. This reflects the growing economic recovery in Malaysia’s key export markets.

Miti said imports in April 2024 grew by 15.6 per cent y-o-y to RM107.02 billion, contributed by strong imports of intermediate goods used mainly for the manufacturing of products for exports.

For the 48th consecutive month since May 2020, Malaysia experienced a trade surplus of RM7.7 billion.

The ministry revealed that the first four months of 2024 recorded the highest values ever for the period for trade, exports and imports, with trade growing by 8.3 per cent to RM912.27 billion compared to the corresponding period in 2023.

Exports increased by 3.8 per cent to RM477.05 billion and imports were higher by 13.7 per cent to RM435.22 billion, resulting in a trade surplus of RM41.83 billion.

Meanwhile, compared to March 2024, trade, exports, imports and trade surplus in April 2024 were lower by 9.3 per cent, 10.8 per cent, 7.6 per cent and 39.4 per cent respectively.

“The contraction was attributed to lower trade with major trading partners namely Taiwan, Asean, India, Japan and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

“In terms of products, lower trade was recorded for electrical and electronic (E&E) products, petroleum products and liquefied natural gas (LNG),” it added.

Besides, Miti said Malaysia’s exports to free trade agreement (FTA) partners in April 2024 increased by 4.4 per cent y-o-y to RM78.03 billion.

Among the FTA partners that registered export expansion were Hong Kong, Mexico and Canada, led by robust exports of E&E products. — Bernama