SABAH

TRADE SUMMARY

JANUARY – JUNE 2003

 

1.            Balance of Trade

 

1.1       Sabah continued to enjoy a favourable trade balance with a swelling surplus amounting to RM2,573.4 million during January to June 2003 as compared to RM1,392.9 million during the corresponding period last year, an increase of RM1,180.5 million or 84.7%. This was resulted from the substantial increase in exports of RM1,855.0 million vis-à-vis the lower increase in imports by RM674.5 million between the review periods with significant increases being recorded in the exports of palm oil and crude petroleum.

 

 

2.           Exports

 

2.1       Sabah registered a 26.7% or RM1,855.0 million increase in the export revenue valued at RM8,791.0 million during the first half of 2003 as compared to RM6,935.9 million for the corresponding period last year. The major export commodities during the current review period were palm oil, crude petroleum, plywood, palm kernel oil, sawn timber, hot briquetted iron, methanol and uncoated printing & writing paper which together amounted to RM6,722.5 million or 76.5% of total exports.

 

2.2       Palm oil retained its position as Sabah’s leading major export commodity, valued at RM3,146.4 million and  contributed to more than one-third (35.8%) of the State’s total export earnings during the current review period with an increase of RM858.2 million from RM2,288.2 million of the previous period. The higher receipt was jointly attributed to the better  f.o.b. export price which escalated from RM1,174.4 per tonne to RM1,552.0 per tonne coupled with the 4% increase in export volume from 1,948.8 thousand tonnes to 2,027.3 thousand tonnes. The People’s Republic of China (785.9 thousand tonnes), the Netherlands (352.2 thousand tonnes), India (258.2 thousand tonnes) and Pakistan (172.0 thousand tonnes) were the main buyers during the current review period.

 

 

2.3       Crude petroleum was the second important revenue earner recorded a higher receipt of RM1,989.2 million as against RM1,474.4 million during the two review periods. This increase was creditable to the increased f.o.b. export price from RM608.7 per tonne to RM837.4 per tonne (+RM228.7 per tonne). This was however partially offset by the marginal 1.9% drop in export volume from 2,422 thousand tonnes to 2,376 thousand tonnes. India, the Republic of Indonesia and Peninsular Malaysia together acquired about 81.5% of Sabah’s crude petroleum.

 

 

2.4       Plywood generated revenue valued RM548.7 million as against RM515.5 million during the periods under review, an increase of RM33.2 million or 6.4%. The f.o.b. export price rose by RM80.9 per cubic metre to RM1,067.5 per cubic metre but the volume exported on the other hand, lapsed by 1.6% to 514.0 thousand cubic metres. The main importers for Sabah’s plywood during the first half year of 2003 were Japan (121.8 thousand cubic metres), the U.S.A. (110.1 thousand cubic metres), the Republic of Korea (82.6 thousand cubic metres), and Peninsular Malaysia (70.5 thousand cubic metres).

 

3.           Imports

 

3.1       Sabah’s imports rose from RM5,543.0 million to RM6,217.5 million during the periods under comparison,  an increase of RM674.5 million or 12.2% resulting from the increased imports on machinery & transport equipment (+RM321.7 million), mineral fuels, lubricants & related materials (+RM109.4 million) and chemicals & related products (+RM98.4 million).

 

 

3.2       Machinery and transport equipment, tops the list of import items, valued at RM2,143.8 million or 34.5% of total imports. Road vehicles (RM832.3 million), general industrial machinery and equipment, n.e.s and machine parts n.e.s. (RM323.1 million), machines for particular industries (RM283.6 million) and power generating machinery & equipment. n.e.s. (RM199.8 million) were the main component items imported.

 

 

3.3       Imports of manufactured goods amounted to RM846.2 million or 13.6% of total imports during the current review period. Iron and steel (RM282.3 million), manufactures of metals n.e.s (RM171.6 million), non-metallic mineral manufactures (RM114.2 million) and rubber manufactures (RM98.4 million) were the main constituent items imported.

 

 

3.4       Sabah imported RM751.2 million worth of chemicals & related products during the current review period which accounted for 12.1% of total imports. Manufactured fertilizers (RM255.9 million), chemicals & related products (RM105.2 million) and essential oils & resinoids & perfume materials (RM102.6 million) were the major component item imported.

 

 

 4.    Direction of Trade

 

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

                 

 

 

Department of Statistics Malaysia,

(Sabah Branch), Kota Kinabalu

August 9, 2003.


 

SABAH

 

Table 1- EXPORTS OF MAJOR COMMODITIES

                               (RM MILLION)

 

 

Quantity

Value

 

Unit of

January-June

Changes    in

January-June

Changes in

Major Commodities

Quantity

2002

2003

Quantity

2002

2003

Value

1.  Palm Oil ( Crude & Processed)

Tonnes

1,948,782

2,027,301

78,519

2,288.2

3,146.4

858.2

2.  Petroleum (Crude)

‘000Tonnes

2,422

2,376

-46

1,474.4

1,989.2

514.8

3.  Plywood

Cu. Metres

522,462

513,990

-8,472

515.5

548.7

33.2

4.  Palm Kernel Oil

Tonnes

210,304

207,401

-2,903

250.6

332.3

81.8

5.  Sawn Timber ( Incl. conifer)

‘000 Cu. Metres

239

233

-6

257.2

259.2

2.0

6.  Methanol

Tonnes

209,922

281,595

71,673

94.1

221.1

127.0

7.  Hot Briquetted Iron

Tonnes

364,782

432,307

67,525

149.0

225.6

76.6

8.  Uncoated Printing & Writing 

     Paper

Tonnes

78,287

51,125

-27,162

163.1

117.1

-46.0

9.  Prawns, fresh, frozen

Tonnes

4,956

4,307

-649

116.4

99.4

-17.1

10. Cocoa Beans (Raw & Roasted)

Tonnes

12,855

12,121

-734

60.6

79.6

19.0

11. Veneer Sheets

Cu. Metres

66,289

79,896

13,607

62.8

81.0

18.1

12. Laminated Wood

Cu. Metres

61,855

56,489

-5,366

61.8

63.3

1.5

13. Palm Kernel Cake

Tonnes

227,586

259,027

31,441

43.8

44.9

1.1

14. Rubber

Tonnes

12,550

17,063

4,513

29.1

54.9

25.9

15. Moulded Woods

Cu. Metres

16,002

11,687

-4,315

30.4

20.6

-9.8

Total Selected Major Exports

 

 

 

 

5,597.0

7,283.2

1,686.2

Other Exports

 

 

 

 

1,338.9

1,507.8

168.8

Total Exports

 

 

 

 

6,935.9

8,791.0

1,855.0

 

Notes: Figures may not add up to totals due to rounding.

 


 

SABAH

 

Table 2 - IMPORTS BY COMMODITY SECTIONS (RM MILLION)

                                                                                                                                                                                                                (RM Million)

 

January-June

 

 

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

642.6

11.6

729.7

11.7

87.1

13.5

1. Beverages & tobacco

186.4

3.4

228.6

3.7

42.2

22.6

2. Crude materials, inedible except fuels

196.7

3.5

223.5

3.6

26.7

13.6

3. Mineral fuels, lubricants & related

    materials

537.9

9.7

647.3

10.4

109.4

20.3

4. Animal & vegetable oils & fats

42.0

0.8

43.9

0.7

2.0

4.7

5. Chemicals & related products

652.8

11.8

751.2

12.1

98.4

15.1

6. Manufactured goods classified chiefly

    by materials

822.5

14.8

846.2

13.6

23.7

2.9

7. Machinery & transport equipment

1,822.1

32.9

2,143.8

34.5

321.7

17.7

8. Misc. manufactured articles

510.9

9.2

471.7

7.6

-39.2

-7.7

9. Misc. transactions & commodities

129.1

2.3

131.7

2.1

2.6

2.0

TOTAL IMPORTS

5,543.0

100.0

6,217.5

100.0

674.5

12.2

Note : Figures may not add up to totals due to rounding.


 

SABAH

 

TABLE 3 - DIRECTION OF TRADE

(RM MILLION)

 

Imports

Exports

 

January-June

January-June

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

3,187.0

57.5

3,532.2

56.8

1,079.3

15.6

1,262.3

14.4

      - Sarawak

157.2

2.8

123.1

2.0

616.4

8.9

456.9

5.2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2.   ASEAN :

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

      - Brunei Darussalam

1.1

x

3.4

x

43.4

0.6

85.9

1.0

      - Cambodia

0.6

x

4.6

0.1

-

-

0.2

-

      - Indonesia, Rep. Of

131.9

 

2.4

159.8

2.6

273.1

3.9

553.3

6.3

      - Laos, People’s Dem. Rep. of

-

-

+

x

-

-

+

x

      - Myanmar, Union of

2.0

x

8.3

0.1

0.4

x

2.8

x

      - Philippines

32.7

0.6

50.2

0.8

78.7

1.1

69.3

0.8

      - Singapore, Rep. Of

285.6

5.2

369.6

5.9

161.9

2.3

174.0

2.0

      - Thailand

73.5

1.3

68.8

1.1

73.9

1.1

121.0

1.4

      - Vietnam, Soc. Rep. Of

27.0

0.5

30.2

0.5

48.3

0.7

36.5

0.4

Total ASEAN

554.3

9.9

694.7

11.1

679.6

9.8

1,042.9

11.9

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3.   Japan

257.9

4.7

296.8

4.8

483.9

7.0

508.7

5.8

4.   China, People’s Rep. Of

192.4

3.5

270.1

4.3

853.7

12.3

1,485.4

16.9

5.   Taiwan

75.1

1.4

78.6

1.3

148.2

2.1

193.6

2.2

6.   Korea, Rep. of

28.7

0.5

53.7

0.9

673.4

9.7

354.5

4.0

7.   India

41.4

0.7

34.9

0.6

851.2

12.3

1,366.3

15.5

8.   European Union

248.8

4.5

243.0

3.9

568.6

8.2

923.1

10.5

9.   U.S.A.

464.7

8.4

507.4

8.2

211.5

3.0

317.0

3.6

10. Other Countries

335.5

6.1

383.0

6.2

770.1

11.1

880.3

10.0

Total

5,543.0

100.0

6,217.5

100.0

6,935.9

100.0

8,791.0

100.0

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