- Analytics
- News and Tools
- Market News
- Malaysia: Export dropped markedly in May – UOB
Malaysia: Export dropped markedly in May – UOB
UOB Group’s Senior Economist Julia Goh and Economist Loke Siew Ting comment on the latest trade balance results in Malaysia.
Key Takeaways
Malaysia’s exports fell for a third straight month but at a marginal pace of 0.7% y/y in May (Apr: -17.6%). The contraction was very much milder than our estimate (-11.5%) and Bloomberg consensus (-12.0%). The same goes for imports, which tumbled by 3.3% (Apr: -11.1%). This led to a larger trade surplus of MYR15.4bn last month (Apr: +MYR12.6bn).
A rebound in shipments of electrical & electronics (E&E), oil-related (i.e. LNG and refined petroleum) products, machinery, and optical & scientific equipment helped to aid overall exports in May. By geographical areas, a growth recovery in exports to major trading partners, namely Singapore, China, US, Japan, and South Korea, were the main reason behind the better-than-expected export outturn during the month.
Despite the year-to-date (ytd) contraction in exports narrowing slightly to 2.3% in the first five months of 2023 (from -2.7% in Jan-Apr 2023), the unfavourable base effects and lingering downside risks (i.e. subdued global demand, easing commodity prices, and moderate recovery in China) continue to point to weak export growth momentum for the remaining months of the year. Hence, we reiterate our projection for export contraction of -7.0% for the entire year of 2023 (BNM est: +1.5%, 2022: +25.0%).
© 2000-2024. All rights reserved.
This site is managed by Teletrade D.J. LLC 2351 LLC 2022 (Euro House, Richmond Hill Road, Kingstown, VC0100, St. Vincent and the Grenadines).
The information on this website is for informational purposes only and does not constitute any investment advice.
The company does not serve or provide services to customers who are residents of the US, Canada, Iran, The Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Yemen and FATF blacklisted countries.
Making transactions on financial markets with marginal financial instruments opens up wide possibilities and allows investors who are willing to take risks to earn high profits, carrying a potentially high risk of losses at the same time. Therefore you should responsibly approach the issue of choosing the appropriate investment strategy, taking the available resources into account, before starting trading.
Use of the information: full or partial use of materials from this website must always be referenced to TeleTrade as the source of information. Use of the materials on the Internet must be accompanied by a hyperlink to teletrade.org. Automatic import of materials and information from this website is prohibited.
Please contact our PR department if you have any questions or need assistance at pr@teletrade.global.
Bank transfers
