Malaysia's trade balance expanded in May on record-high exports, according to data from the Department of Statistics Malaysia released Friday.
The country's trade surplus grew to 40.4 billion ringgit during the month, up from 29.2 billion ringgit in the previous month. It also beat the consensus estimate of 23.2 billion ringgit tracked by Investing.com.
Exports surged 45.3% to 184 billion ringgit in May, faster than the 16.4% rise in April to 183.3 billion ringgit.
Domestic exports jumping 42% to 143.1 billion ringgit, or 77.8% of total exports, while re-exports grew 58.4% to 40.9 billion ringgit, comprising 22.2% of total exports.
By commodity, exports of electrical and electronic items worth 37.9 billion ringgit, other items worth 10.3 billion ringgit, petroleum products worth 6 billion ringgit, and liquefied natural gas, among others, helped prop up outward shipments, Chief Statistician Mohd Uzir Mahidin said.
By destination, exports to the U.S. were the highest at 18.3 billion ringgit, while shipments southward to Singapore reached 7.4 billion ringgit, and toward Hong Kong at 6.8 billion ringgit.
Import performance improved 14.1% to 143.6 billion ringgit.
Imports by end use increased year over year, with an increase in intermediate goods of 14.4% to 74.5 billion ringgit.
Capital goods imports slid 18.3% to 18.5 billion ringgit, and consumption items slipped 2.7% to 9.8 billion ringgit.
Total trade jumped 29.8% year over year to 327.6 billion ringgit, slower than the 337.3 billion ringgit seen in April.
