SABAH TRADE SUMMARY

JANUARY – SEPTEMBER 2002

1. Balance of Trade

1.1 Sabah’s trade surplus for the first nine months of 2002 amounted to RM2,315.8 million, an increase of RM1,357.4 million or 141.6% over the RM958.5 million for the same period last year. The higher surplus was attributed to the 17.0% rise in exports as compared to 2.8% in the case of imports between the two periods under review.

2. Exports

2.1 Sabah registered total exports of RM10,956.2 million in the first three quarters of 2002, an increase of RM1,595.9 million or 17.0% over the corresponding exports of RM9,360.4 million last year. This increase was mainly due to the higher receipts of palm oil by RM1,283.5 million. Sabah’s major export commodities were palm oil, crude petroleum, plywood, sawn timber, palm kernel oil, uncoated printing and writing paper and hot briquetted iron, which together accounted for RM8,082.9 million or 73.8% of total exports.

2.2 Palm oil remained as the leading revenue earner of Sabah generating RM3,618.9 million or 33.0% of Sabah’s total exports during the first nine months of 2002, an increase of RM1,283.5 million over the RM2,335.4 million recorded for the same period last year. The increased receipts were from the higher f.o.b export price which rose by RM407.7 or 51.2% per tonne to RM1,203.7 per tonne coupled with the increase in the export volume by 91.7 thousand tonnes to 2,881.2 thousand tonnes. The main buyers of Sabah’s palm oil were the Republic of China (993.1 thousand tonnes), Netherlands (421.8 thousand tonnes), India (406.2 thousand tonnes) and Pakistan (279.8 thousand tonnes).

2.3 Export of Crude petroleum continued its downward trend with receipts of RM2,381.2 million, a drop of RM203.4 million from RM2,584.6 million during the review periods. The decline was due to the lower f.o.b. export price from RM773.8 per tonne to RM621.0 per tonne (-RM152.8 per tonne) although the export volume increased by 296 thousand tonnes. India, the Republic of Korea, Peninsular Malaysia and the Republic of Indonesia together consumed 94.3% of Sabah’s total exports of crude petroleum during the current period.

2.4 Exports revenue from plywood decreased marginally by RM12.3 million from RM857.2 million to RM844.9 million during the periods under review. The drop in f.o.b export price of RM60.0 per cubic metre coupled with the lower export volume by 8.7 thousand cubic metres was the main factor for the decrease in receipts. The main importers of Sabah’s plywood were Japan (196.3 thousand cubic metres), the U.S.A (182.8 thousand cubic metres), the Republic of Korea (127.7 thousand cubic metres) and Peninsular Malaysia (106.0 thousand cubic metres).

3. Imports

3.1 For the first nine months of 2002, Sabah’s imports amounted to RM8,640.4 million, an increase of RM238.5 million or 2.8% against RM8,401.9 million recorded for the same period last year. Machinery and transport equipment, manufactured goods and chemicals and related products together accounted for 58.9% or RM5,090.2 million of total imports.

3.2 Sabah imported RM2,824.6 million worth of machinery and transport equipment during January-September, 2002. These consist mainly of road vehicles (RM1,092.6 million), machinery for particular industries (RM417.8 million), general industrial machinery and equipment (RM415.6 million) and electrical machinery and appliances n.e.s (RM296.8 million). The main suppliers of these commodities to Sabah were Peninsular Malaysia (RM1,847.0 million), the U.S.A. (RM401.2 million), the European Union (RM192.9 million) and Japan (RM189.3 million).

3.3 Imports of manufactured goods amounted to RM1,251.7 million or 14.5% of total imports during the first nine months of 2002. Iron and steel (RM388.4 million), manufactures of metal n.e.s. (RM295.8 million), non- metallic mineral manufactures n.e.s (RM160.6 million) and rubber manufactures n.e.s (RM145.1 million) were the main component items imported. Peninsular Malaysia supplies about 61.8% or RM773.3 million of total imports of manufactured goods into Sabah.

3.4 For the first three quarters of 2002, Sabah’s import bill for chemicals and related products amounted to RM1,013.9 million or 11.7% of total imports. Fertilizers, manufactured (RM288.7 million), other chemicals and products (RM163.4 million) and essential oils, perfumery, etc. (RM154.5 million) were the major imported items. More than half or 52.4% ( RM531.4 million worth) of chemicals and related products come from Peninsular Malaysia.

4. Direction of Trade

Sabah’s major trading partners during the first nine months of 2002 were Peninsular Malaysia, ASEAN, the People’s Republic of China, India, the European Union, Japan, Sarawak, the U.S.A., the Republic of Korea and Taiwan in that order of importance.

Department of Statistics Malaysia,

(Sabah Branch), Kota Kinabalu

9 November 2002.

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

		Quantity			Value
	Unit of	January-September		Changes in	January-September		Changes in
Major Commodities	Quantity	2001	2002	Quantity	2001	2002	Value
1. Palm Oil ( Crude & Processed)	Tonnes	2,789,478	2,881,211	91,733	2,335.4	3,618.9	1,283.5
2. Petroleum (Crude)	‘000Tonnes	3,380	3,676	296	2,584.6	2,381.2	-203.4
3. Plywood	Cu Metres	811,803	803,127	-8,676	857.2	844.9	-12.3
4. Palm Kernel Oil	Tonnes	271,251	291,137	19,886	274.7	366.3	91.6
5. Sawn Timber ( Incl. conifer)	‘000 Cu Metres	432	366	-66	486.5	404.1	-82.3
6. Prawns, fresh, frozen	Tonnes	6,147	6,859	712	169.8	165.0	-4.7
7. Uncoated Printing & Writing Paper	Tonnes	93,933	112,313	18,380	215.6	238.0	22.4
8. Hot Briquetted Iron	Tonnes	495,796	544,619	48,823	193.3	229.5	36.2
9. Laminated Wood	Cu. Metres	108,288	90,002	-18,286	118.2	90.9	-27.3
10. Veneer Sheets	Cu. Metres	123,480	105,995	-17,485	120.1	106.0	-14.1
11. Palm Kernel Cake	Tonnes	332,936	327,822	-5,114	36.1	62.4	26.3
12. Cocoa Beans (Raw & Roasted)	Tonnes	25,985	17,764	-8,221	89.7	85.8	-3.9
13. Moulded Woods	Cu. Metres	24,108	22,786	-1,322	44.7	41.7	-3.0
14. Methanol	Tonnes	441,052	356,806	-84,246	255.4	175.7	-79.7
15. Rubber	Tonnes	16,720	19,585	2,865	37.5	49.5	12.0
Total Selected Major Exports					7,818.7	8,859.9	1,041.2
Other Exports					1,541.7	2,096.3	554.7
Total Exports					9,360.4	10,956.2	1,595.9

	January-September
S.I.T.C. Commodity Sections	2001		2002		Changes in	% Change Over
	Value	% of total	Value	% of total	Value	Corresponding Year
	(1)	(2)	(3)	(4)	(5)=(3)-(1)	(6)=(5)/(1)x100
0. Food	1,001.8	11.9	972.9	11.3	-28.9	-2.9
1. Beverages & tobacco	299.4	3.6	291.3	3.4	-8.1	-2.7
2. Crude materials, inedible except fuels	308.5	3.7	304.9	3.5	-3.6	-1.2
3. Mineral fuels, lubricants & related materials	1,212.7	14.4	951.0	11.0	-261.7	-21.6
4. Animal & vegetable oils & fats	68.2	0.8	52.3	0.6	-15.9	-23.3
5. Chemicals & related products	878.2	10.5	1,013.9	11.7	135.7	15.5
6. Manufactured goods classified chiefly by materials	1,263.7	15.0	1,251.7	14.5	-12.1	-1.0
7. Machinery & transport equipment	2,575.1	30.6	2,824.6	32.7	249.5	9.7
8. Misc. manufactured articles	647.2	7.7	774.7	9.0	127.6	19.7
9. Misc. transactions & commodities	147.1	1.8	203.1	2.4	56.0	38.1
TOTAL IMPORTS	8,401.9	100.0	8,640.4	100.0	238.5	2.8

	Imports				Exports
	January-September				January-September
Country/	2001		2002		2001		2002
Country Groupings	Value	% of total	Value	% of total	Value	% of total	Value	% of total
1. Rest of Malaysia :
- Peninsular Malaysia	4,815.1	57.3	5,042.0	58.4	1,455.9	15.6	1,739.5	15.9
- Sarawak	468.0	5.6	243.2	2.8	602.4	6.4	848.1	7.7

2. ASEAN :
- Brunei Darussalam	1.4	x	1.5	x	63.5	0.7	95.7	0.9
- Cambodia	6.7	0.1	1.3	x	0.6	x	-	-
- Indonesia, Rep. Of	215.7	2.6	202.0	2.3	189.1	2.0	425.6	3.9
- Laos, People’s Dem. Rep. of	-	-	-	-	0.2	x	5.3	x
- Myanmar, Union of	4.3	0.1	4.4	0.1	2.1	x	0.6	x
- Philippines	42.1	0.5	52.2	0.6	142.0	1.5	114.6	1.0
- Singapore, Rep. Of	489.6	5.8	490.6	5.7	202.8	2.2	256.4	2.3
- Thailand	104.0	1.2	110.2	1.3	210.8	2.3	121.4	1.1
- Vietnam, Soc. Rep. Of	54.0	0.6	40.7	0.5	59.9	0.6	61.2	0.6
Total ASEAN	917.9	10.9	902.8	10.4	871.0	9.3	1,080.8	9.9

3. Japan	415.2	4.9	374.6	4.3	849.2	9.1	800.0	7.3
4. China, People’s Rep. Of	220.6	2.6	303.4	3.5	684.0	7.3	1,552.6	14.2
5. Taiwan	127.8	1.5	115.9	1.3	214.5	2.3	218.8	2.0
6. Korea, Rep. of	48.8	0.6	44.8	0.5	1,138.4	12.2	972.7	8.9
7. India	59.1	0.7	56.2	0.7	1,037.7	11.1	1,365.2	12.5
8. European Union	310.1	3.7	373.7	4.3	714.8	7.6	967.3	8.8
9. U.S.A.	517.6	6.2	678.9	7.9	426.8	4.6	381.2	3.5
10. Other Countries	501.7	6.0	504.8	5.8	1,365.7	14.6	1,030.1	9.4
Total	8,401.9	100.0	8,640.4	100.0	9,360.4	100.0	10,956.2	100.0

Table 1- EXPORTS OF MAJOR COMMODITIES

SABAH

Imports

January-September

Total ASEAN

Total