Malaysia’s export unit value index posted a positive growth at 1.0% in November 2020, which was contributed by the growth in the index of mineral fuels (+8.5%), animal & vegetable oils & fats (+1.8%) and manufactured goods (+0.5%). Whereas, the import unit value index dropped marginally by 0.1% in November 2020 as compared with the previous month. The deterioration was attributed to the decreases in the index of mineral fuels (-2.0%), machinery & transport equipment (-0.4%) and miscellaneous manufactured articles (-0.2%).
External Trade Indices, Dec 2020
Malaysia’s exports in December 2020 registered a double-digit growth of 10.8% to RM95.74 billion, year-on-year (y-o-y). This was the highest monthly export recorded in 2020 and the second highest export value ever registered after RM97.12 billion in 11 October 2018.
Producer Price Index (PPI), Dec 2020
Producer Price Index (PPI) local production declined at a slower rate of 2.1 per cent year-on-year in December 2020 as compared to negative 3.0 per cent in November 2020. The continuous double-digit increased in the index of Agriculture, forestry & fishing (23.5%) and the positive change in Manufacturing index (0.2%), reinforced the momentum of overall index.
Industrial Production Index (IPI), Nov 2020
The Industrial Production Index (IPI) contracted 2.2 per cent in November 2020 as compared to the same month of the previous year. The deterioration of IPI in November 2020 was due to the fall in Mining and Electricity index when it recorded a decline of 15.4 per cent and 2.5 per cent respectively. Meanwhile, the Manufacturing index continues to grow 2.0 per cent.
Consumer Price Index (CPI), Dec 2020
Consumer Price Index (CPI) declined 1.4 per cent in December 2020 to 120.6 as against 122.3 in the same month of the preceding year. The decrease in the overall index was attributed by the decline in Transport (-8.4%); Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas & Other Fuels (-3.3%); Clothing & Footwear (-0.4%); Restaurants & Hotels (-0.2%) and Furnishings, Household Equipment & Routine Household Maintenance (-0.1%) which contributed 48.6 per cent to overall weight.
Leading Index (CPI), Nov 2020
Malaysia’s LI for November 2020 registered 109.1 points, rose 7.1 per cent from November 2019 following 6.3 per cent in October 2020. Bursa Malaysia Industrial Index which remained to prop up significantly in the reference month was mainly fuelled by the Health Care Index. The trend is in line with the monthly change of LI which posted a growth of 0.4 per cent in November 2020 as against negative 0.7 per cent in the previous month. The gain was primarily contributed by Real Imports of Semi Conductors (0.5%) driven by the encouraging demand of electronic integrated circuit.