The total trade recorded an increase of 37.3 per cent from BND2,018.5 million in August 2021 to BND2,771.3 million in August 2022, contributed by a rise in both export and import value between those periods.
Compared to July 2022, total trade fell 7.8 per cent due to a fall in exports and imports value, mainly mineral fuels.
Total exports increased by 35.3 per cent from BND1,246.4 million in August 2021, to BND1,687.0 million in August 2022.
This was due to the increase in mineral fuels exports from BND1,013.4 million to BND1,405.5 million in the same period. In addition, chemicals exports increased from BND213.1 million to BND250.0 million in the same period.
The increase in mineral fuels exports was due to the higher export value of crude oil, liquefied natural gas (LNG) and petroleum products. The increase in crude oil exports and LNG exports were due to a rise in export prices.
Petroleum products exports recorded an increase from BND400.7 million to BND938.4 million, in which the main commodity was automotive diesel fuels.
In terms of commodity, mineral fuels was the major contributor to exports at 83.3 per cent, followed by chemicals (14.8), and machinery and transport equipment (0.7).
The main exports market in August 2022 was Malaysia at 23.2 per cent, followed by Australia (22), and Singapore (18.8). The largest export commodity to Malaysia, Australia and Singapore was mineral fuels.
Total value of imports increased from BND772.1 million in August 2021 to BND1,084.3 million in August 2022, due to an increase in imports of mineral fuels, particularly crude oil as production input for the downstream petrochemical industry.
The five main imports by commodity were mineral fuels with 62.1 per cent, machinery and transport equipment at (15.9), food (6.7), manufactured goods (5.5) and chemicals (5.2).
The biggest import partner by share was Malaysia at 41.2 per cent, followed by United Arab Emirates (13.7) and China (11.2), with mineral fuels as the largest import commodity.
Most of the country’s imports at 59.0 per cent are used as intermediate goods for processing, followed by capital goods (37.5) for business operations and consumption goods (3.5) for household use.
Transport by sea had the highest share for both exports and imports, amounting to BND2,605.8 million or 94.0 per cent. This was followed by air transport (BND133.7 million or 4.8 per cent) and via land (BND31.7 million or 1.1 per cent).
The International Merchandise Trade Statistics report for August 2022 is available from the Department of Economic Planning and Statistics’ website.
