The total trade recorded a 7.1-per-cent increase from BND2,312.2 million in October 2021 to BND2,477.5 million in October 2022, contributed by a rise in import value between this period.
Compared to September 2022, total trade fell by 3.7 per cent due to a fall in exports, mainly mineral fuels.
Total exports decreased by 2.5 per cent from BND1,336.3 million in October 2021 to BND1,302.9 million in October 2022. This was mainly due to the decrease in mineral fuels exports from BND1,097.2 million to BND1,005.7 million in the same period.
The decrease in mineral fuels exports was primarily due to the lower export value of crude oil. This is attributed to a reduction in export volume by 88.6 per cent from 85.11 kbbl/day in October 2021 to 9.68 kbbl/day in October 2022.
In terms of commodity, mineral fuels represents the major contributor to the Sultanate’s exports at 77.2 per cent, followed by chemicals (20.2 per cent), and machinery and transport equipment (1.1 per cent).
The main exports market in October 2022 was China (25.7 per cent), followed by Australia (18.4 per cent), and Japan (17.6 per cent). The largest export commodity to China was chemicals, whereas to Australia and Japan was mineral fuels.
Total value of imports increased from BND975.9 million in October 2021 to BND1,174.6 million in October 2022, mainly due to a significant increase in imports of mineral fuels particularly crude oil as production input for the downstream petrochemical industry.
The five main imports by commodity for October 2022 were mineral fuels (74.3 per cent), followed by machinery and transport equipment at 7.7 per cent, food (5.9 per cent), manufactured goods (4.3 per cent), and chemicals (3.8 per cent).
The biggest import partner by share was United Arab Emirates (37.0 per cent), followed by Malaysia (23.8 per cent) and Qatar (12.3 per cent), with mineral fuels as the largest import commodity.
Most of Brunei’s imports at 59.8 per cent are used as intermediate goods for processing, followed by capital goods (37.5 per cent) for business operations and consumption goods (2.7 per cent) for household use.
Transport by sea accounted for the highest share for both exports and imports, which amounted to BND2,384.8 million or 96.3 per cent. This was followed by air transport (BND60.6 million or 2.4 per cent) and via land (BND32.1 million or 1.3 per cent).