By Chester Tay
Malaysia's trade surplus more than doubled in September from a year earlier as exports to key trading partners rose as the global economy normalized from Covid-19 and imports remained subdued amid weak domestic demand.
The country's trade surplus rose to 21.97 billion ringgit ($5.28 billion) thanks in particular to strong exports to China and the U.S., Ministry of International Trade and Industry data showed Wednesday.
That handily beat the median forecast from a Wall Street Journal poll of eight economists for a trade surplus of MYR14.45 billion. September's surplus compared with MYR8.81 billion a year ago and MYR13.23 billion in August.
Exports jumped 13.6% to MYR88.93 billion from a year earlier, rebounding from a 2.9% decline in August. Shipments of manufactured goods, which accounted for almost 88% of exports, climbed 16.3%, driven by electrical and electronics products, as well as rubber, iron and steel products
Exports to China surged 42% to MYR15.56 billion from a year earlier whiles those to the U.S. jumped more than 22% to MYR10.32 billion. September marked the fourth consecutive month that Malaysian exports to the world's two largest economies rose by double digits.
Imports fell 3.6% to MYR66.96 billion, dragged mainly by capital goods, particularly electrical machinery, equipment and parts as a recession at home weakened domestic demand.
For the third quarter, Malaysia's surplus rose 68.4% to MYR60.36 billion. Exports gained 4.4% to MYR260.62 billion while imports contracted 6.3% to MYR200.25 billion.
For the first nine months of 2020, the trade surplus rose 14.8% to MYR124.94 billion.
Write to Chester Tay at chester.tay@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
10-28-20 0014ET
