Malaysia's exports in March for the first time passed the 80 billion ringgit (18.4 billion U.S. dollars) mark, reaching 82.63 billion ringgit, a 24.1 percent increase compared with last March, government data showed on Friday.
The rise was underpinned by double-digit increase in the exports of electrical and electronics products and petroleum products. Imports also surged by 39.4 percent to 77.22 billion ringgit, while total trade of the month expanded by 31.1 percent to 159.86 billion ringgit, said the ministry of international trade and industry in a statement.
Total trade for the first quarter of 2017 was valued at 430.51 billion ringgit, a 24.3 percent increase compared with the same period of last year, it said.
Breaking down the performance of Malaysia's major trade partners, Malaysia's trade with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, China, the United States, the European Union and Japan all registered double-digit growth.
Exports to China sustained a positive growth since October 2016, rising by 40.3 percent to 10.96 billion ringgit, said the ministry. Malaysia's trade with the United States recorded a 47 percent increase, with imports from the United States meanwhile jumping by 89.9 percent, due mainly to imports of floating structure. (1 Malaysian ringgit = 0.23 U.S. dollar)
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