SABAH

TRADE SUMMARY

JANUARY – NOVEMBER 2003

 

1.            Balance of Trade

 

1.1       Sabah continued to register a favorable trade balance with a surplus amounting to RM4,800.3  million during January to November 2003 as compared to RM3,103.0 million during the corresponding period last year, an increase of RM1,697.3 million or 54.7%. This was due to the substantial increase in exports of RM2,965.6 million vis-à-vis the lower increase in imports by RM1,268.3 million between the review periods. Significant increases were recorded in the exports of palm oil and crude petroleum which together amounted to RM9,921.6 million.

 

2.           Exports

 

2.1       Sabah’s total export revenue amounted to RM16,910.4 million during the first eleven months of 2003 as compared to RM13,944.8 million for the corresponding period last year. Palm oil, crude petroleum, plywood, palm kernel oil, sawn timber, methanol, hot briquetted iron and uncoated printing & writing paper were the main export commodities during the current review period which together amounted to RM13,138.3 million or 77.7% of total exports.

 

2.2       Palm oil retained its position as Sabah’s leading major export commodity during the current review period valued at RM6,187.6 million and contributed to 36.6% of the State’s total export earnings, an increase of RM1,401.0 million as against RM4,786.6 million of the previous period. The higher receipt was jointly attributable to the increased f.o.b. export price from RM1,301.4 per tonne to RM1,540.1 per tonne coupled with the 9.2% increase in export volume from 3,678.0 thousand tonnes to 4,017.8 thousand tonnes. The People’s Republic of China (1,627.9 thousand tonnes), the Netherlands (679.7 thousand tonnes), India (451.2 thousand tonnes) and Pakistan (402.1 thousand tonnes) were the main buyers during the current review period.

 

2.3       Crude petroleum was the second important revenue earner and collected a higher receipt of RM3,734.0 million as against RM2,890.2 million during the two review periods. This increase was resulted from the better f.o.b export price from RM664.6 per tonne to RM821.7 per tonne              (+ RM157.1 per tonne). The volume exported stood at 4,544.0 thousand tonnes during the current reference period. India, Peninsular Malaysia and the Republic of Indonesia together acquired 84.8% of Sabah’s crude petroleum.

 

2.4       Sabah’s plywood generated revenue valued at RM1,070.5 million as against RM1,079.4 million during the periods under review, a marginal 0.3% drop (-RM9.0 million). This was solely attributable to the f.o.b. export price which dropped by RM39.0 per cubic metre to RM1,044.3 per cubic metre. The quantity of plywood exported on the other hand, rose by 2.9% to 1,025.1 thousand cubic metres. The main importers for Sabah’s  plywood during the first eleven months of 2003 were Japan (252.0 thousand  cubic metres), the Republic of Korea ( 178.6 thousand cubic metres) the U.S.A. (178.1 thousand cubic metres) and Peninsular Malaysia (137.3 thousand cubic metres).

 

3.           Imports

 

3.1       Sabah’s imports increased from RM10,841.7 million  to RM12,110.1 million during the periods under comparison, an increase of RM1,268.3 million or 11.7%. Higher imports were observed on machinery & transport equipment (+ RM578.1 million), chemicals & related products (+RM153.2 million) and food (+ RM145.7 million).

 

3.2       Machinery and transport equipment tops the list of import items, valued at RM4,220.3 million or 34.8% of total imports. Road vehicles     (RM1,591.4 million), general industrial machinery and equipment, n.e.s. and machine parts n.e.s. (RM663.8 million), machinery for particular industries (RM634.1 million) and electrical machinery, apparatus & appliances, n.e.s. (RM397.0 million) were the main component items imported.

 

3.3       Imports of manufactured goods valued at RM1,638.7 million contributed to 13.5% of total imports during the current review period. Iron and steel (RM524.8 million), manufactures of metals n.e.s (RM331.5 million), non-metallic mineral manufactures (RM244.9 million) and rubber manufactures (RM149.4 million) were the main constituent items imported.

 

3.4       Sabah’s import bill on chemicals related products amounted to RM1,372.9 million during the current review period which accounted for 11.3% of total imports. Manufactured fertilizers (RM429.8 million), chemicals & related products (RM202.0 million) and essential oils, resinoids & perfume materials, etc (RM201.9 million) were the major component items imported.

 

 4.    Direction of Trade

 

Sabah’s major trading partners during January-November, 2003 were Peninsular Malaysia, the People’s Republic of China, ASEAN, 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

January 10, 2004.


 

SABAH

 

Table 1- EXPORTS OF MAJOR COMMODITIES

                               (RM MILLION)

 

 

Quantity

Value

 

Unit of

January-November

Changes

January-November

Changes in

Major Commodities

Quantity

2002

2003

in Quantity

2002

2003

Value

1.  Palm Oil ( Crude &

     Processed)

Tonnes

3,678,019

4,017,778

339,759

4,786.6

6,187.6

1,401.0

2.  Petroleum (Crude)

‘000 Tonnes

4,349

4,544

195

2,890.2

3,734.0

843.8

3.  Plywood

Cu. Metres

996,434

1,025,107

28,673

1,079.4

1,070.5

-9.0

4.  Palm Kernel Oil

Tonnes

365,108

393,084

27,976

474.3

606.1

131.9

5.  Sawn Timber (Incl.

     conifer)

‘000 Cu. Metres

457

448

-9

505.4

504.8

-0.7

6.  Methanol

Tonnes

456,206

560,434

104,228

236.2

425.4

189.3

7.  Hot Briquetted Iron

Tonnes

663,418

672,486

9,068

283.8

364.5

80.7

8.  Uncoated Printing &

     Writing  Paper

Tonnes

131,634

105,897

-25,737

283.0

245.4

-37.6

9.  Prawns, fresh, frozen

Tonnes

8,245

7,028

-1,217

203.0

166.3

-36.7

10. Veneer Sheets

Cu. Metres

140,310

138,139

-2,171

142.7

138.0

-4.7

11.Cocoa Beans ( Raw &

     Roasted)

Tonnes

22,580

17,532

-5,048

116.1

108.4

-7.7

12. Laminated Wood

Cu. Metres

112,537

108,307

-4,230

116.0

120.5

4.4

13. Rubber

Tonnes

24,579

31,293

6,714

65.1

106.4

41.3

14. Palm Kernel Cake

Tonnes

385,293

449,735

64,442

73.1

77.0

3.9

15. Moulded Woods

Cu. Metres

27,682

22,355

-5,327

49.8

38.9

-10.9

Total Selected Major Exports

 

 

 

 

11,304.9

13,893.8

2,588.9

Other Exports

 

 

 

 

2,639.9

3,016.6

376.8

Total Exports

 

 

 

 

13,944.8

16,910.4

2,965.6

 

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

 


 

SABAH

 

Table 2 - IMPORTS BY COMMODITY SECTIONS (RM MILLION)

                                                                                                                                                            (RM Million)

S.I.T.C. Commodity Sections

January-November

Changes in Value

% Change Over Corresponding Year

2002

2003

Value

% of total

Value

% of total

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)=(3)-(1)

(6)=(5)/(1)x100

0. Food

1,222.1

11.3

1,367.8

11.3

145.7

11.9

1. Beverages & tobacco

358.5

3.3

420.3

3.5

61.8

17.2

2. Crude materials, inedible

    except fuels

359.2

3.3

399.3

3.3

40.0

11.1

3. Mineral fuels, lubricants &

    related materials

1,114.0

10.3

1,233.7

10.2

119.7

10.7

4. Animal & vegetable oils &

    fats

63.7

0.6

79.4

0.7

15.7

24.6

5. Chemicals & related products

1,219.7

11.2

1,372.9

11.3

153.2

12.6

6. Manufactured goods

    classified chiefly by materials

1,551.4

14.3

1,638.7

13.5

87.3

5.6

7. Machinery & transport

    equipment

3,642.2

33.6

4,220.3

34.8

578.1

15.9

8. Misc. manufactured articles

1,057.6

9.8

1,136.6

9.4

78.9

7.5

9. Misc. transactions &

    commodities

253.3

2.3

241.2

2.0

-12.1

-4.8

TOTAL IMPORTS

10,841.7

100.0

12,110.1

100.0

1,268.3

11.7

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


 

SABAH

 

TABLE 3 - DIRECTION OF TRADE

     (RM MILLION)

Country/Country Groupings

Imports

Exports

January-November

January-November

2002

2003

2002

2003

Value

% of total

Value

% of total

Value

% of total

Value

% of total

1.   Rest of Malaysia :

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

      - Peninsular Malaysia

6,281.3

57.9

6,996.6

57.8

2,141.2

15.4

2,431.6

14.4

      - Sarawak

298.7

2.8

208.2

1.7

1,074.6

7.7

968.9

5.7

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2.   ASEAN :

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

      - Brunei Darussalam

1.2

x

4.0

x

122.1

0.9

253.5

1.5

      - Cambodia

2.7

x

4.6

0.0

0.7

-

0.2

0.2

      - Indonesia, Rep. Of

243.2

2.2

296.9

2.5

578.0

4.1

914.2

5.4

      - Laos, People’s Dem. Rep. of

-

-

+

x

5.3

x

+

x

      - Myanmar, Union of

5.3

0.0

10.9

0.1

0.7

x

2.8

x

      - Philippines

69.2

0.6

95.0

0.8

140.5

1.0

117.8

0.7

      - Singapore, Rep. Of

569.9

5.3

659.8

5.4

327.3

2.3

439.2

2.6

      - Thailand

135.5

1.3

148.2

1.2

154.5

1.1

261.2

1.5

      - Vietnam, Soc. Rep. Of

54.9

0.5

56.4

0.5

82.4

0.6

99.9

0.6

Total ASEAN

1,081.9

9.9

1,275.9

10.5

1,411.4

10.1

2,088.7

12.4

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3.   Japan

507.7

4.7

517.1

4.3

1,018.0

7.3

960.8

5.7

4.   China, People’s Rep. Of

397.0

3.7

563.5

4.7

2,042.3

14.6

3,001.5

17.8

5.   Taiwan

171.3

1.6

156.8

1.3

        280.5

2.0

356.8

2.1

6.   Korea, Rep. of

62.8

0.6

109.8

0.9

1,139.9

8.2

706.2

4.2

7.   India

67.3

0.6

84.5

0.7

1,776.6

12.7

2,524.7

14.9

8.   European Union

458.4

4.2

454.0

3.7

1,254.3

9.0

1,703.5

10.1

9.   U.S.A.

904.7

8.3

1,088.6

9.0

466.2

3.3

531.4

3.1

10. Other Countries

610.6

5.6

654.6

5.4

1,338.0

9.6

1,634.4

9.7

Total

10,841.7

100.0

12,109.6

100.0

13,942.9

100.0

16,908.5

100.0

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