Malaysia’s export and import unit value indices continued to record a positive growth in February 2021, at 1.2% month-on-month (m-o-m) and 0.8% m-o-m respectively, according to the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM).
Chief statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the export unit value index remained positive for the sixth consecutive month, while the import unit value index showed a similar trend which started in December 2020.
This was contained in the DOSM's external trade indices (2010=100) for February 2021, which presents the unit value and volume index by sections for both exports and imports of goods.
“The export unit value index posted a positive growth at 1.2% in February 2021, reflecting a growth in the index of animal and vegetable oils and fats (4.8%), mineral fuels (3.6%) as well as machinery and transport equipment (0.4%),” he said.
Nevertheless, he said the export volume index declined 3.5% compared to the previous month, attributed to a weak performance of the index of beverages and tobacco (-20.2%), machinery and transport equipment (-13.6%) and manufactured goods (-3.8%).
Mohd Uzir also noted that the seasonally adjusted export volume index registered an expansion of 14% from 142.8 points to 162.7 points.
“When compared to the previous year, the export unit value index dropped 0.6%, while the export volume index registered a double-digit growth at 18.3%,” he said.
On the 0.8% growth in the import unit value index in February 2021, he said it was contributed by a better performance of the index of mineral fuels (6.3%), manufactured goods (0.6%) and machinery and transport equipment (0.3%).
“On the other hand, the import volume index contracted by 5.3%, attributed to a weak performance of the index of machinery and transport equipment (-7.6%), manufactured goods (-7.3%) and miscellaneous manufactured articles (-6.3%).
“The seasonally adjusted import volume index in February 2021 grew 9.8% from 143.1 points to 157.2 points,” he said.
On a year-on-year (y-o-y) basis, Mohd Uzir said the import unit value index declined 1.9%, while the import volume index expanded 14.9%.
The DOSM also reported that Malaysia’s terms of trade grew 0.4% m-o-m from 101.1 points to 101.5 points in February 2021.
On a y-o-y basis, Malaysia’s terms of trade also remained positive at 1.4% from 100.2 points in February 2020.
Source: Bernama
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