KUALA LUMPUR, March 20 (Xinhua) -- Malaysia's exports grew by 9.8 percent year on year to 112.28 billion ringgit (25.02 billion U.S. dollars) in February, official data showed Monday.
The Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) said in a statement that the export growth was supported by strong exports of petroleum products, electrical and electronic (E&E) products as well as liquefied natural gas (LNG).
In February, exports of manufactured goods which accounted for 85 percent of total exports rebounded by 9.5 percent year on year to 95.4 billion ringgit.
The increase was boosted by robust exports of petroleum products and E&E products.
The E&E products, which accounted for 39.4 percent of total exports, increased by 11.7 percent from February 2022. Petroleum products, which made up 10.9 percent of total exports, also surged by 67.5 percent year on year.
Meanwhile, exports of mining goods climbed by 34.8 percent year on year to 9.2 billion ringgit, led by higher exports of LNG. LNG, which accounted for 4.8 percent of total exports, increased by 32.9 percent year on year.
Exports of agriculture goods, on the other hand, totaled 7.16 billion ringgit, declined by 9 percent compared to February 2022 due to lower exports of palm oil and palm oil-based agriculture products.
According to MITI, the trade rose 11 percent year on year to 204.99 billion ringgit in February.
Malaysia's imports for the month also expanded by 12.4 percent to 92.71 billion ringgit.
For the period of January to February 2023, Malaysia's trade increased by 6.1 percent year on year to 412.17 billion ringgit.
Its exports expanded by 5.4 percent year on year to 224.93 billion ringgit while imports climbed by 7 percent to 187.24 billion ringgit.
Meanwhile, trade surplus edged down marginally by 1.8 percent to 37.69 billion ringgit. (1 ringgit equals 0.22 U.S. dollar) ■