SABAH

SABAH TRADE SUMMARY

JANUARY 2003

1. Balance of Trade

1.1 Sabah recorded a favourable balance of trade for the first month of 2003 with a surplus amounting to RM372.9 million as against RM219.1 million in January 2002, a 70.2% increase of RM153.8 million. This higher surplus was attributed to the higher increase in exports amounting to RM375.3 million vis-a vis the increase in imports by RM221.5 million between the review periods. Significant increases were noted in the exports of palm oil during this period.

2. Exports

2.1 Sabah recorded export receipts amounting to RM1,491.1 million in January 2003 as against RM1,115.7 million for the corresponding month last year, an increase of 33.6% or RM375.3 million. Sabah’s major export commodities during the current review period were palm oil, crude petroleum, plywood, palm kernel oil, sawn timber, methanol and cocoa beans which together accounted for RM1,178.4 million or 79.0% of total exports.

2.2 Revenue from Palm oil, Sabah’s leading major export commodity amounted to RM563.3 million and contributed to 37.8% of total export earnings in January 2003 representing a 72.6% increase from RM326.5 million of the previous year (+ RM236.9 million). The higher receipt was attributed to the better f.o.b export price which soared by more than one-fold from RM784.4 per tonne to RM1,589.8 per tonne. The volume exported however decreased by 14.9% to 354.3 thousand tonnes. The People’s Republic of China (91.6 thousand tonnes), the Netherlands (80.6 thousand tonnes), India (41.7 thousand tonnes) and Pakistan (34.6 thousand tonnes) were the main buyers during the current review period.

2.3 Crude petroleum was the second important revenue earner in January 2003, recorded increase revenue amounting to RM329.2 million against RM321.6 million during the two review periods. This was resulted from the higher volume exported from 385 thousand tonnes to 396 thousand tonnes during the review periods while the f.o.b export price dropped from RM835.4 per tonne to RM831.9 per tonne. (-RM3.5 per tonne). India, Peninsular Malaysia and the Republic of Indonesia together imported about 75% of Sabah’s crude petroleum during the current review period.

2.4 Plywood fetched higher revenue of RM107.7 million as against RM91.6 million during the periods under review, an increase of RM16.1 million or 17.6%. The f.o.b export price dropped by RM63.8 per cubic metre from RM1,140.2 per cubic metre to RM1,076.4 per cubic metres. The main importers for Sabah’s plywood during the first month of 2003 were the Republic of Korea (24.9 thousand cubic metres), Japan (20.8 thousand cubic metres), the U.S.A. (20.7 thousand cubic metres), and Peninsular Malaysia (16.1 thousand cubic metres)

3. Imports

3.1 Sabah’s import bill registered a 24.7% increase from RM896.6 million for January 2003 to RM1,118.2 million for the current review period, an additional RM221.5 million mainly on the increased expenditure on machinery & transport equipment (+ RM70.8 million), chemicals & related products (+ RM48.0 million) & misc. manufactured equipment

(+ RM36.6 million) whilst mineral fuels, lubricants & rel. materials recorded a lower expenditure by RM25.5 million)

3.2 Machinery and transport equipment was Sabah’s main import item with expenditure amounting to RM354.1 million or 31.7% of total imports. Road vehicles (RM149.9 million), machines for particular industries (RM64.6 million), general industrial machinery and equipment, n.e.s and machine parts n.e.s (RM45.7 million) and electrical machinery and appliances n.e.s (RM32.0 million) were the main component items imported.

3.3 The imports of manufactured goods amounted to RM148.3 million or 13.3% of total imports during the first month of 2003. Iron and steel (RM57.3 million), manufactures of metals n.e.s. (RM30.8 million), rubber manufactures (RM17.2 million) and non- metallic mineral manufactures (RM16.9 million) were the main constituent items imported.

3.4 Sabah imported RM145.0 million worth of chemicals & related products during the current review period which accounted for 13.0% of total imports. Manufactured fertilizers were the major component item imported.

4. Direction of Trade

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

Department of Statistics Malaysia,

(Sabah Branch),

Kota Kinabalu

11 Mar 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		Changes in	January		Changes in
Major Commodities	Quantity	2002	2003	Quantity	2002	2003	Value
1. Palm Oil ( Crude & Processed)	Tonnes	416,200	354,334	-61,866	326.5	563.3	236.9
2. Petroleum (Crude)	‘000Tonnes	385	396	11	321.6	329.2	7.6
3. Plywood	Cu Metres	80,327	100,074	19,747	91.6	107.7	16.1
4. Palm Kernel Oil	Tonnes	34,527	39,002	4,475	39.3	65.3	26.0
5. Sawn Timber ( Incl. conifer)	‘000 Cu Metres	41	47	6	47.7	54.3	6.7
6. Prawns, fresh, frozen	Tonnes	682	699	17	18.9	16.1	-2.8
7. Uncoated Printing & Writing Paper	Tonnes	3,244	8,791	5,547	7.8	19.7	11.9
8. Hot Briquetted Iron	Tonnes	52,077	25,817	-26,260	20.4	12.0	-8.4
9. Laminated Wood	Cu. Metres	8,457	8,339	-118	9.5	9.8	0.3
10. Veneer Sheets	Cu. Metres	16,382	9,554	-6,828	16.4	10.6	-5.8
11. Palm Kernel Cake	Tonnes	42,506	70,576	28,070	4.4	13.0	8.6
12. Cocoa Beans (Raw & Roasted)	Tonnes	2,347	3,882	1,535	6.8	25.4	18.5
13. Moulded Woods	Cu. Metres	2,602	2,573	-29	5.2	4.7	-0.5
14. Methanol	Tonnes	41,733	51,077	9,344	26.8	33.2	6.4
15. Rubber	Tonnes	1,458	3,501	2,043	3.5	11.2	7.7
Total Selected Major Exports					946.5	1,275.5	329.0
Other Exports					169.3	215.5	46.3
Total Exports					1,115.7	1,491.1	375.3

	January
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	116.6	13.0	143.8	12.9	27.2	23.3
1. Beverages & tobacco	37.7	4.2	44.9	4.0	7.2	19.1
2. Crude materials, inedible except fuels	30.3	3.4	41.3	3.7	11.1	36.6
3. Mineral fuels, lubricants & related materials	143.6	16.0	118.1	10.6	-25.5	-17.7
4. Animal & vegetable oils & fats	1.0	0.1	5.1	0.5	4.1	409.9
5. Chemicals & related products	96.9	10.8	145.0	13.0	48.0	49.6
6. Manufactured goods classified chiefly by materials	119.4	13.3	148.3	13.3	28.8	24.1
7. Machinery & transport equipment	283.3	31.6	354.1	31.7	70.8	25.0
8. Misc. manufactured articles	57.0	6.4	93.6	8.4	36.6	64.2
9. Misc. transactions & commodities	10.8	1.2	23.9	2.1	13.1	120.9
TOTAL IMPORTS	896.6	100.0	1,118.2	100.0	221.5	24.7

	Imports				Exports
	January				January
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	492.3	54.9	607.7	54.3	130.2	11.7	264.4	17.7
- Sarawak	40.6	4.5	20.2	1.8	59.0	5.3	65.0	4.4

2. ASEAN :
- Brunei Darussalam	+	x	0.4	0.0	5.7	0.5	9.0	0.6
- Cambodia	11.4	1.3	14.9	1.3	0.8	x	1.5	x
- Indonesia, Rep. Of	18.2	2.0	31.5	2.8	13.7	1.2	87.7	5.9
- Laos, People’s Dem. Rep. of	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
- Myanmar, Union of	+	x	0.7	0.1	1.4	0.1	-	-
- Philippines	57.1	6.4	75.8	6.8	164.3	14.7	151.4	10.2
- Singapore, Rep. Of	78.2	8.7	76.5	6.8	27.9	2.5	28.5	1.9
- Thailand	22.3	2.5	10.1	0.9	9.0	0.8	24.4	1.6
- Vietnam, Soc. Rep. Of	0.1	x	7.7	0.7	7.6	0.7	3.6	0.2
Total ASEAN	187.2	20.9	217.6	19.5	230.3	20.6	306.2	20.5

3. Japan	37.9	4.2	72.2	6.5	99.2	8.9	88.7	5.9
4. China, People’s Rep. Of	34.4	3.8	45.5	4.1	35.4	3.2	180.3	12.1
5. Taiwan	18.2	2.0	6.7	0.6	19.0	1.7	28.1	1.9
6. Korea, Rep. of	7.1	0.8	9.7	0.9	253.6	22.7	49.8	3.3
7. India	4.7	0.5	9.6	0.9	152.5	13.7	170.3	11.4
8. European Union	44.9	5.0	45.1	4.0	95.9	8.6	228.4	15.3
9. U.S.A.	51.7	5.8	74.8	6.7	33.5	3.0	59.6	4.0
10. Other Countries	(22.3)	(2.5)	9.1	0.8	7.2	0.6	50.2	3.4
Total	896.6	100.0	1,118.2	100.0	1,115.7	100.0	1,491.1	100.0

Table 1- EXPORTS OF MAJOR COMMODITIES

SABAH

Imports

January

Total ASEAN

Total