Malaysia's Trade Surplus Widens in August

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia--Malaysia's trade surplus widened in August from the previous month, but exports and imports were lower than a year earlier, driven by a decline in shipments of electrical and petroleum products.

Trade Surplus and Statistics

The Southeast Asian nation reported a trade surplus of 17.31 billion ringgit ($3.70 billion), compared with MYR17.09 billion in July.

"Compared to July 2023, trade, exports, imports and trade surplus contracted by 1.5%, 1.4%, 1.6% and 0.3%, respectively," the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry said Tuesday.

Compared with the previous year, exports declined 18.6% in August to MYR115.16 billion, and imports fell 21.2% to MYR97.85 billion, the data showed.

Malaysia's exports were estimated to have declined 17.0% from a year earlier, and imports were projected to have fallen 18.2%, resulting in a trade surplus of MYR16.26 billion, according to the median forecast in a Wall Street Journal poll.

Decline in Shipments

August shipments to China dropped 20.3% to MYR14.72 billion, and exports to the U.S. fell 9.7% to MYR13.52 billion.

Trade Partners

Below are the figures for Malaysia's trade with its five largest export and import trading partners in August:

Exports Value (MYR Millions) % Change YoY

• Singapore: 16,807 (-19%)
• China: 14,719 (-20%)
• USA: 13,516 (-10%)
• Japan: 7,428 (-19%)
• Hong Kong: 6,290 (-33%)

Imports Value (MYR Millions) % Change YoY

• China: 20,935 (-18%)
• Singapore: 12,572 (0.2%)
• USA: 7,162 (-25%)
• Taiwan: 7,088 (-40%)
• Japan: 5,189 (-33%)