The total trade recorded a 53.9-per-cent year-on-year decrease, from BND3,037.3 million in April 2022 to BND1,401.5 million in April 2023 due to a 56.2-per-cent decrease in exports value from BND1,740.5 million to BND761.7 million. Similarly, imports value also recorded a 50.7-per-cent decrease from BND1,296.8 million to BND639.8 million, said the Department of Economic Planning and Statistics in a release yesterday.
The decrease of the exports value was mainly driven by the export values of liquified natural gas (LNG) and other petroleum products particularly automotive diesel fuels. The decline in LNG exports value was due to a fall in exports volume by 11.7 per cent and export price by 18.4 per cent, it said.
In terms of export commodities, mineral fuels represented the major contributor to Brunei’s exports at 77 per cent, followed by chemicals (19.2 per cent), and machinery and transport equipment (1.7 per cent).
The five main imports by commodity for April 2023 were mineral fuels (51.4 per cent), followed by machinery and transport equipment (17.0 per cent), food (10.3 per cent), chemicals (7.1 per cent), and manufactured goods (6.9 per cent).
The main export markets in April 2023 were Japan (21.9 per cent), followed by Singapore (19.7 per cent) and Australia (14.2 per cent). The top export commodities were crude oil, LNG and downstream petrochemical products.
The biggest import partners were United Arab Emirates (18.7 per cent), followed by Saudi Arabia (18.6 per cent) and Malaysia (17.4 per cent), with crude oil as the largest import commodity.
Some 57.3 per cent of imports were used as intermediate goods for processing, followed by capital goods (37.1 per cent) for business operations and consumption goods (5.6 per cent) for household use, while 93.5 per cent of trade by value was delivered through sea transport, followed by 4.7 per cent via air transport and 1.8 per cent via land.
In terms of month-on-month changes, compared to March 2023, total trade decreased by 5.4 per cent mainly due to the decrease in export value by 24.1 per cent.
