KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s export unit index remained positive for the fourth consecutive months since October 2021, growing 1.3 per cent in January 2022 compared with the previous month, the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DoSM) said.

However, the import unit value index dropped 0.5 per cent in January 2022 compared with the previous month, said chief statistician Malaysia Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin in a statement on the DoSM’s External Trade Indices (2010=100) January 2022 report released today.

“The upward performance of export unit index was supported by the increases in the index of animal & vegetable oils & fats of 3.3 per cent, mineral fuels of 2.1 per cent, and machinery & transport equipment of 1.3 per cent.

“On the other hand, the export volume index fell 11.8 per cent in the same month, reflected by the deterioration in the index of miscellaneous manufactured articles of 15.4 per cent, machinery & transport equipment of 11.4 per cent, and mineral fuels of 7.8 per cent,” he said.

Mohd Uzir added that the seasonally adjusted export volume index grew 0.5 per cent from 154.4 points to 155.1 points.

On annual comparison, he said both export unit value and volume index grew 15.5 per cent and 7.0 per cent, respectively.

Meanwhile, the marginally lower import unit value index was attributed to the deterioration in the index of mineral fuels of 4.6 per cent, machinery & transport equipment of 0.3 per cent, and chemicals of 0.2 per cent.

Likewise, the import volume index fell by 0.04 per cent in January 2022 compared with the preceding month, attributed to the deterioration in the index of miscellaneous manufactured articles of 4.2 per cent, machinery & transport equipment of 2.8 per cent, and inedible crude materials of 0.3 per cent, he said.

“The seasonally adjusted import volume index in January 2022 increased 1.5 per cent from 166.8 points to 169.3 points.

“On a year-on-year basis, both the import unit value and volume indices expanded 7.1 per cent and 18.1 per cent, respectively,” he said.

The DoSM also reported that Malaysia’s terms of trade increased 1.9 per cent month-on-month to 109.1 points in January 2022.

On a year-on-year basis, Malaysia’s terms of trade performance showed a positive growth of 7.9 per cent from 101.1 points in January of the previous year. – BERNAMA