July'07 Exports Up 2.7% to RM50.52 Billion

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 4 (Bernama) -- Malaysia exported goods worth RM50.52 billion in July 2007, higher by 2.7 percent when compared with RM49.03 billion in the previous month but similar to the level in July last year.The increase in exports was mainly attributed to palm oil, liquefied natural gas (LNG), crude petroleum as well as electrical and electronic products (E&E), the Statistics Department said today.Imports in July 2007 rose 5.3 percent from RM42.54 billion the previous month and up by 2.5 percent when compared with the same period a year ago, the department said in a preliminary release.A trade surplus of RM7.98 billion was recorded, making it the 117th consecutive month of trade surplus since November 1997, it added.Total trade in July 2007 was worth RM93.06 billion, up by 3.9 percent from the previous month.E&E products accounted for RM21.85 billion or 43.3 percent of total exports, followed by palm oil at RM3.32 billion or 6.1 percent, and chemicals and chemical products at RM2.82 billion or 5.6 percent.Others were LNG at RM2.21 billion or 4.4 percent, refined petroleum products (RM1.97 billion or 3.9 percent), machinery, appliances and parts (RM.18 billion or 3.6 percent), manufactures of metal (RM1.32 billion or 2.6 percent), wood products (RM1.22 billion or 2.4 percent), and optical and scientific equipment (RM1.21 billion or 2.4 percent).The department said 79 percent of the exports went to Asean, the United States, the European Union (EU), Japan, China, Hong Kong and India.Asean absorbed 25.5 percent of the country's total exports in July 2007, up by 2.9 percent due mainly to higher exports of E&E products.Exports to the US totalled RM7.62 billion or 15.2 percent, an increase of 1.5 percent from the previous month due mainly to higher exports of refined petroleum products and palm oil.In July 2007, exports to EU totalled RM6.3 billion or 12.5 percent of Malaysia's total exports, up by 5.2 percent when compared to the same period last year.Exports to Japan amounted to RM4.62 billion, down slightly from RM4.8 billion in June 2007 due mainly to lower exports of refined petroleum products and E&E products. Year-on-year, exports to Japan registered an increase of 8.3 percent.Exports to China continued on an upward trend for the third consecutive month to reach a value of RM4.12 billion, up by 0.6 percent from the previous month, the department said, adding that the increase was mainly due to higher exports of palm oil and rubber products.On July 2007 imports, the department said intermediate goods worth RM30.47 billion accounted for 71.6 percent of total imports while capital goods amounted to RM6.01 billion or 14.1 percent and consumption goods totalled RM2.52 billion or 5.9 percent.Total trade during the first seven months of 2007 was valued at RM615.63 billion, an increase of 2.1 percent from the same period last year, the department said.During the same period, exports grew by one percent to RM333.65 billion while imports expanded by 3.4 percent to RM281.99 billion, resulting in a trade surplus of RM51.66 billion, it said.