KUALA LUMPUR (Thomson Financial) - Malaysia's trade surplus widened in January as exports hit a record for the month on brisk

shipments of palm oil, petroleum products and crude oil, the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) said Thursday.

MITI said the trade surplus reached 9.79 billion ringgit in January, up 28.8 percent from the same month a year earlier and up 4.1 percent from December.

Exports rose 10.4 percent from a year earlier to 53.03 billion ringgit, a record amount for the month of January. Imports increased 6.9 percent to 43.23 billion ringgit.

The January surplus marked the 123rd consecutive month since November 1997 that Malaysia has posted a trade surplus, MITI said in a statement.

Exports of palm oil and petroleum products remained strong, with palm oil exports making up 7.3 percent, or 3.9 billion ringgit, of total shipments. Crude petroleum exports made up 6.8 percent, or 3.6 biilion ringgit, of total exports.

Exports of electrical and electronics products accounted for 40 percent of total exports, at 21 billion ringgit.

Solid export growth in January was helped by increased intra-ASEAN trade, offsetting weaker demand from the US, according to MITI.

Malaysia's exports to the world's largest economy dipped to 7.17 billion ringgit, or 13.5 percent of total exports in January, from 7.88 billion ringgit in December.

Exports to Southeast Asian countries grew 2.7 percent.

Malaysia, a net exporter of petroleum and palm oil, is benefiting from a global commodity boom. Prices of crude palm oil, which is used in cooking and in producing biodiesel, have rallied to record levels this year in tandem with crude oil prices.

(1 US dollar = 3.18 ringgit)

source: forbes