Malaysia's export, import unit value up in April - DoSM

Department of Statistics Malaysia's (DoSM) chief statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the growth in the export unit value index was reflected by the increases in the index of animal and vegetable oils and fats (+6.1 per cent), mineral fuels (+4.7 per cent) and machinery and transport equipment (+0.6 per cent).

"On the other hand, the export volume index recorded a decline of 1.1 per cent in the same month.

"This was attributed to the decreases in the index of chemicals (-12.5 per cent), machinery and transport equipment (-7.2 per cent) and manufactured goods (-6.0 per cent)," he said in a statement on the release of the External Trade Indices for April 2021 report today.

Mohd Uzir said the seasonally adjusted export volume index registered a marginal increase to 163.6 points from 162.2 points previously.

"Compared to the previous year, both the export unit value and volume indices rose 5.8 per cent and 54 per cent, respectively," he said.

Meanwhile, Mohd Uzir attributed the growth in the import unit value index in April 2021 to the increase in the index of mineral fuels (+2.8 per cent), inedible crude materials (+2.4 per cent) and manufactured goods (+0.7 per cent).

The import volume index grew 4.6 per cent m-o-m in April 2021, contributed by the expansion in the index of mineral fuels (+57.5 per cent), miscellaneous manufactured articles (+6.4 per cent) and manufactured goods (+5.2 per cent),

"The seasonally adjusted import volume index in April 2021 expanded 2.2 per cent to 166.0 points from 162.4 points," he said.

On year-on-year (y-o-y) basis, he noted that both the import unit value and volume indices expanded 1.5 per cent and 22.6 per cent, respectively.

DoSM also reported that Malaysia's terms of trade rose 0.9 per cent m-o-m to 103.7 points in April 2021, while y-o-y, it rose by 4.3 per cent.