SABAH

TRADE SUMMARY

JANUARY – FEBRUARY 2003

1. Balance of Trade

1.1 Sabah recorded a favourable balance of trade with a surplus amounting to RM878.3 million during the first two months of 2003 as against RM285.9 million during the corresponding period last year, a more than twofold increase of RM592.4 million. The higher surplus was attributed to the higher exports revenue of RM796.9 million vis-à-vis the increase in imports by RM204.5 million between the review periods. Significant increase was noted in the exports of palm oil and crude petroleum during this period.

2. Exports

2.1 Sabah collected total export revenue amounting to RM2,807.1 million in January-February 2003 as against RM2,010.3 million for the corresponding month last year, an increase of 39.6% or RM796.9 million. Sabah’s major export commodities during the current review period were palm oil, crude petroleum, plywood, palm kernel oil, sawn timber, hot briquetted iron, uncoated printing & writing paper and cocoa beans which together accounted for RM2,160.8 million or 77.0% of total exports.

2.2 Palm oil was Sabah’s foremost major export commodity with revenue amounting to RM981.9 million and contributed to 35% of the state’s total export earnings in January-February 2003 representing a 52.1% increase from RM645.5 million of the previous year (+RM336.4 million). The higher receipt was jointly attributed to the better f.o.b. export price which soared by 41.5% from RM1,128.7 per tonne to RM1,597.4 per tonne coupled with the higher volume exported by 7.5% to 614.7 thousand tonnes. The People’s Republic of China (187.4), the Netherlands (107.3 thousand tonnes), India (67.7 thousand tonnes) and Pakistan (64.4 thousand tonnes) were the main buyers during the current review period.

2.3 Crude petroleum was the second important revenue earner and recorded increased revenue amounting to RM662.0 million as against RM400.5 million during the two review periods. This was mainly resulted from the higher f.o.b. export price from RM530.7 per tonne to RM863.4 per tonne. (+RM332.7 per tonne). Exports volume recorded a marginal 1.6% increase from 755 thousand tonnes to 767 thousand tonnes. India, the Republic of Indonesia and Peninsular Malaysia together imported about 81.6% of Sabah’s crude petroleum.

2.4 Plywood generated revenue of RM183.6 million as against RM157.8 million during the periods under review, an increase of RM25.9 million or 16.4%. The f.o.b. export price rose by RM98.6 per cubic metre to RM1,081.3 per cubic metre and the volume exported amounted to 169.8 thousand cubic metres. The main importers for Sabah’s plywood during the first two months of 2003 were the Republic of Korea (44.0 thousand cubic metres), Japan (36.7 thousand cubic metres), the U.S.A (25.3 thousand cubic metres) and Peninsular Malaysia (24.7 thousand cubic metres)

3. Imports

3.1 Sabah’s import bill registered a 11.9% increase from RM1,928.8 million for the current review period, an additional RM204.5 million mainly on the increased expenditure on machinery & transport equipment (+RM101.2 million), mineral fuels, lubricants & related. materials (+RM64.5 million) & chemicals & related products (+ RM31.6 million)

3.2 Machinery and transport equipment was Sabah’s main import item with expenditure amounting to RM661.2 million or 34.3% of total imports. Road vehicles (RM259.9 million) power generating machinery and equipment, n.e.s. (RM92.3 million), general industrial machinery and equipment, n.e.s and machine parts n.e.s. (RM92.0 million) and machines for particular industries (RM87.3 million) were the main component items imported.

3.3 The imports of manufactured goods amounted to RM245.4 million or 12.7% of total imports during the first two months of 2003. Iron and steel

(RM83.7 million), manufactures of metals n.e.s (RM52.3 million), rubber manufactures (RM31.2 million) and non-metallic mineral manufactures (RM29.4 million) were the main constituent items imported.

3.4 Sabah imported RM231.5 million worth of chemicals & related products during the current review period which accounted for 12.0% of total imports. Manufactured fertilizers were the major component item imported

4. Direction of Trade

Sabah’s main trading partners during the first two months of 2003 were Peninsular Malaysia, ASEAN , the People’s Republic of China, India, the European Union, the U.S.A, Japan, Sarawak, the Republic of Korea and Taiwan in that order of importance.

Department of Statistics Malaysia,

(Sabah Branch), Kota Kinabalu

9 April 2003.

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-February		Changes in	January-February		Changes in
Major Commodities	Quantity	2002	2003	Quantity	2002	2003	Value
1. Palm Oil ( Crude & Processed)	Tonnes	571,879	614,701	42,822	645.5	981.9	336.4
2. Petroleum (Crude)	‘000 Tonnes	755	767	12	400.5	662.0	261.5
3. Plywood	Cu Metres	160,548	169,840	9,292	157.8	183.6	25.9
4. Palm Kernel Oil	Tonnes	82,520	69,562	-12,958	87.5	117.9	30.4
5. Sawn Timber ( Incl. conifer)	‘000 Cu Metres	76	68	-8	79.3	78.0	-1.3
6. Prawns, fresh, frozen	Tonnes	1,797	1,316	-481	42.8	30.2	-12.6
7. Uncoated Printing & Writing Paper	Tonnes	17,892	20,013	2,121	36.8	45.0	8.2
8. Hot Briquetted Iron	Tonnes	28,698	120,065	91,367	10.9	56.6	45.7
9. Laminated Wood	Cu. Metres	19,171	15,560	-3,611	18.6	18.3	-0.4
10. Veneer Sheets	Cu. Metres	19,425	22,793	3,368	18.9	23.5	4.7
11. Palm Kernel Cake	Tonnes	85,866	97,225	11,359	15.6	16.8	1.2
12. Cocoa Beans (Raw & Roasted)	Tonnes	2,578	5,438	2,860	11.1	35.8	24.7
13. Moulded Woods	Cu. Metres	5,886	4,421	-1,465	12.9	7.8	-5.0
14. Methanol	Tonnes	11,844	96,767	84,923	3.8	64.7	60.9
15. Rubber	Tonnes	2,207	6,535	4,328	4.6	21.3	16.7
Total Selected Major Exports					1,546.3	2,343.3	797.0
Other Exports					463.9	463.8	-0.1
Total Exports					2,010.3	2,807.1	796.9

	January-February
S.I.T.C. Commodity Sections	2002		2003		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	199.8	11.6	227.3	11.8	27.4	13.7
1. Beverages & tobacco	63.6	3.7	77.1	4.0	13.5	21.2
2. Crude materials, inedible except fuels	50.5	2.9	62.1	3.2	11.7	23.2
3. Mineral fuels, lubricants & related materials	159.5	9.2	224.0	11.6	64.5	40.5
4. Animal & vegetable oils & fats	23.3	1.4	11.5	0.6	-11.9	-50.8
5. Chemicals & related products	199.9	11.6	231.5	12.0	31.6	15.8
6. Manufactured goods classified chiefly by materials	271.6	15.8	245.4	12.7	-26.2	-9.7
7. Machinery & transport equipment	559.9	32.5	661.2	34.3	101.2	18.1
8. Misc. manufactured articles	155.4	9.0	146.5	7.6	-8.9	-5.7
9. Misc. transactions & commodities	40.8	2.4	42.2	2.2	1.4	3.4
TOTAL IMPORTS	1,724.4	100.0	1,928.8	100.0	204.5	11.9

	Imports				Exports
	January-February				January-February
Country/	2002		2003		2002		2003
Country Groupings	Value	% of total	Value	% of total	Value	% of total	Value	% of total
1. Rest of Malaysia :
- Peninsular Malaysia	1,051.4	61.0	1,055.2	54.7	318.7	15.9	520.3	18.5
- Sarawak	56.5	3.3	34.4	1.8	238.1	11.8	142.5	5.1

2. ASEAN :
- Brunei Darussalam	0.7	x	0.6	0.0	13.2	0.7	29.6	1.1
- Cambodia	0.2	0.0	4.6	0.2	-	-	-	-
- Indonesia, Rep. Of	43.5	2.5	47.2	2.4	105.3	5.2	179.9	6.4
- Laos, People’s Dem. Rep. of	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
- Myanmar, Union of	0.5	x	1.1	0.1	0.1	x	2.8	x
- Philippines	7.1	0.4	12.8	0.7	26.9	1.3	24.8	0.9
- Singapore, Rep. Of	71.9	4.2	130.9	6.8	65.8	3.3	53.5	1.9
- Thailand	22.5	1.3	19.2	1.0	25.3	1.3	35.6	1.3
- Vietnam, Soc. Rep. Of	6.9	x	11.1	0.6	10.7	0.5	5.9	0.2
Total ASEAN	153.4	8.4	227.3	11.8	247.3	12.3	332.1	11.8

3. Japan	82.8	4.8	111.8	5.8	141.4	7.0	159.4	5.7
4. China, People’s Rep. Of	68.8	4.0	80.8	4.2	125.9	6.3	355.0	12.6
5. Taiwan	28.7	1.7	17.6	0.9	46.4	2.3	78.5	2.8
6. Korea, Rep. of	11.4	0.7	13.5	0.7	176.5	8.8	102.4	3.6
7. India	10.2	0.6	12.0	0.6	184.0	9.2	389.1	13.9
8. European Union	76.6	4.4	79.6	4.1	159.3	7.9	307.0	10.9
9. U.S.A.	94.0	5.5	175.5	9.1	51.1	2.5	99.2	3.5
10. Other Countries	90.5	5.2	121.1	6.3	321.5	16.0	321.7	11.5
Total	1,724.3	100.0	1,928.8	100.0	2,010.3	100.0	2,807.1	100.0

Table 1- EXPORTS OF MAJOR COMMODITIES

SABAH

Imports

January-February

Total ASEAN

Total