Kuala Lumpur: Malaysia’s export unit value index grew 0.2 per cent while the import unit value index declined 0.2 per cent in October 2020 month-on-month (m-o-m), respectively, in October 2020, said the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DoSM).
Chief Statistician Malaysia Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin
(pic) said the export unit value index posted a positive growth due to the increases in the animal and vegetable oils and fats (+5.3 per cent), manufactured goods (+0.4 per cent), and machinery and transport equipment (+0.2 per cent) indices.
Similarly, he said the export volume index increased 2.2 per cent to 154.6 points, contributed by the rise in the index of inedible crude materials (+11.6 per cent), miscellaneous manufactured articles (+7.4 per cent), and animal and vegetable oils and fats (+6.2 per cent) indices.
“In seasonally adjusted terms, the export volume index registered a drop of 6.8 per cent to 144.6 points,” Mohd Uzir said, adding that year-on-year (y-o-y), the export unit value index dropped 4.7 per cent in October 2020, while export volume index rose 5.2 per cent.
He said this in a statement on the DoSM’s External Trade Indices (2010=100) October 2020 report released on Friday.
Meanwhile, Mohd Uzir attributed the marginal decline in the import unit value index for the month to the decreases in the index of mineral fuels (-4.2 per cent), as well as machinery and transport equipment (-0.2 per cent).
“However, the import volume index registered an increase of 3.2 per cent at 139.4 points, mainly attributable to the increases in the index of mineral fuels (+37.9 per cent), manufactured goods (+1.6 per cent), as well as machinery and transport equipment (+0.5 per cent),” he said.
In seasonally adjusted terms, the import volume index in October 2020 declined 0.6 per cent to 134.6 points, while on a y-o-y basis, both the import unit value and volume indices decreased 4.2 per cent and 1.9 per cent, respectively.
On the same note, the DoSM reported that Malaysia’s terms of trade (TOT) in October 2020 ticked up 0.4 per cent to 98.1 points compared with September 2020, while on a y-o-y basis, the TOT for the month remained negative at 0.5 per cent compared with 99.1 points last year.
The TOT measures a country’s export prices in relation to its import prices.
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