Malaysia: Solid prints from exports and imports – UOB

Pablo Piovano FXStreet

Julia Goh, Senior Economist at UOB Group, and Economist Loke Siew Ting assess the latest exports/imports data in Malaysia.

Key Quotes

“Malaysia’s export and import values breached record high again in Apr due to year-ago low base effects and continued recovery in global demand. Exports surged the most since Feb 1998 by 63.0% y/y to a record level of MYR105.6bn in Apr (Mar: +31.0% to MYR104.9bn), beating our estimate (+59.0%) and Bloomberg consensus (+50.0%). Imports posted the largest gains in nearly 4 years by 24.4% y/y to a new high of MYR85.1bn (Mar: +19.2% to MYR80.8bn). This narrowed the trade surplus to MYR20.5bn (from +MYR24.2bn in Mar).”

“Year-to-date, exports advanced by 27.8% in Jan-Apr 2021, surpassing our 2021 full-year export growth forecast of 15.0% (2020: -1.4%). To reflect the stronger-than-expected export growth in Mar-Apr amid manageable impact of one-month nationwide Movement Control Order (MCO 3.0) from 12 May till 7 Jun on trade activities, we raise our 2021 full-year export growth projection to 22%. The continuation of global recovery, intensified trade diversion and diversification, and global technology upcycle are key drivers of export performance.”

Author

Pablo Piovano

FXStreet

Born and bred in Argentina, Pablo has been carrying on with his passion for FX markets and trading since his first college years.

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