1.       Balance of Trade

Sabah recorded a favourable trade balance for the first four months of 2001 with a surplus amounting to RM903.8 million as compared to RM710.4 million for the same period in 2000, an increase of RM193.4 million or 27.2%. The higher trade surplus was attributed to the increase in exports (by RM200.3 million) vis-à-vis the lower increase in imports by RM6.9 million between the review periods.

2.    Exports

Sabah collected revenue amounting to RM4,373.4 million during January-April 2001, as against RM4,173.1 million for the same period last year. Significant increases were noted in the exports of crude petroleum, palm oil and methanol which amounted to RM252.2 million. Sabah’s major export commodities during the current review period were crude petroleum, palm oil, plywood, sawn timber, methanol, palm kernel oil, uncoated printing & writing paper, fresh, frozen prawns and hot briquetted iron which together accounted for RM3,378.8 million or 77.3% of total exports.

Crude petroleum retained its position as the leading export commodity during the current review period with a higher revenue amounting to RM1,174.1 million as against RM1,050.2 million during the two review periods. This increase in revenue was largely resulted from the increased f.o.b. export price from RM732.8 per tonne to RM772.9 per tonne (+RM40.1 per tonne) while the volume exported stood at 1,519 thousand tonnes (+86 thousand tonnes) during the current review periods. The Republic of Korea, India, Peninsular Malaysia and New Zealand together imported about 78.1% of Sabah’s crude petroleum during the current review period.

Export receipts from Palm oil, the second major export commodity for Sabah amounted to RM1,062.0 million and contributed to almost a quarter or 24.3% of total export earnings during the first four months of 2001 as against RM996.9 million of the previous period (+RM65.0 million). The increased receipts were solely attributed to the 65.5% increase in export volume (+539.0 thousand tonnes) despite the decline in f.o.b. export price from RM1,211.9 per tonne to RM779.9 per tonne. India (366.9 thousand tonnes), the Netherlands (226.2 thousand tonnes), the People’s Republic of China (219.1 thousand tonnes) and Pakistan (203.9 thousand tonnes) were the main buyers during the current review period.

Revenue from the exports of Plywood amounted to RM391.7 million as against RM389.8 million during the periods under review, a marginal increase of RM2.0 million. The f.o.b. export price declined by RM132.6 per cubic metre to RM1,103.0 per cubic metre while the volume exported rose from 315.5 thousand cubic metre to 355.2 thousand cubic metres. The main importers for Sabah’s plywood in January-April, 2001 were Japan (131.7 thousand cubic metres), the Republic of Korea (50.3 thousand cubic metre), the U.S.A. (47.2 thousand cubic metres) and Peninsular Malaysia (42.7 thousand cubic metres).

3.       Imports

Sabah’s import bill increased marginally by 0.2% from RM3,462.7 million for the first four months of 2000 to RM3,469.6 million for the current review period, an increase of RM6.9 million mainly from the higher imports of manufactured goods (+RM37.1 million), food (+RM34.8 million) and chemicals (+RM26.5 million) while significant lower imports were recorded in machinery & transport equipment (-RM81.1 million).

Machinery and transport equipment retained its position as the foremost import item with expenditure amounting to RM1,017.9 million or 29.3% of total imports. Road vehicles (RM358.7 million), machines for particular industries (RM148.4 million), general industrial machinery and equipment, n.e.s. and machine parts n.e.s. (RM133.7 million) and electrical machinery and appliances n.e.s. (RM120.6 million) were the main component items imported. Peninsular Malaysia, the U.S.A., Japan and European Union were the main suppliers of machinery and transport equipment to Sabah.

Mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials was the second important item with import bill amounting to RM563.7 million during the current review period which accounted for 16.2% of total imports. Petroleum products were the major component item imported. Peninsular Malaysia, Singapore and Sarawak supplied more than 97% of total imports of mineral fuels, lubricants related materials into Sabah.

The imports of manufactured goods amounted to RM485.1 million which accounts for 14.0% of total imports during the current review period. Iron and steel (RM121.2 million), manufactures of metals n.e.s. (RM108.2 million), non-metallic mineral manufactures (RM69.1 million) and rubber manufactures (RM60.7 million) were the main constituent items imported. Peninsular Malaysia alone supplied more than 64% of manufactured goods imported.

4.       Direction of Trade

Sabah’s main trading partners during January - April, 2001 were Peninsular Malaysia, ASEAN, the Republic of Korea, Japan, India, Sarawak, the European Union, the U.S.A., the People’s Republic of China, and Taiwan in that order of importance.

 

(Sabah Branch), Kota Kinabalu

Note: Figures may not add up to totals due to rounding. X – Less than 0.05% + - Less than RM0.05 Million