The country’s total trade was valued in March was valued at BND2,501.8 million, an increase by 36.1 per cent from BND1,838.0 million during the same month last year, according to the latest International Merchandise Trade Statistics (IMTS) for Brunei Darussalam.
The report, published by the Department of Economic Planning and Statistics (DEPS), also said for month-to-month changes, total trade for March has increased by 11.5 per cent compared to February.
Total exports increased by 59.3 per cent year-on-year to BND1,688.1 million compared to BND1,059.6 million in March 2021.
This was due to the increase in mineral fuels exports to BND1,327.8 million from BND804.7 million in March 2021.
According to the DEPS, chemicals exports increased to BND320.6 million in March from BND228.1 million in the same month in 2021.
The increase in mineral fuels exports was mainly due to the higher export value of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and petroleum products from downstream activities.
LNG export value increased as a result of higher LNG prices which rose to USD11.94 per MMBtu in March from USD7.01 per MMBtu in March 2021.
The export value from petroleum products from downstream activities increased to BND750.0 million, of which the main commodity was automotive diesel fuels.
Meanwhile, for imports, the total value increased to BND813.7 million in March from BND778.4 million in March 2021 due to a significant increase in imports of chemicals.
The five main imports by commodity were Mineral Fuels with 52.3 per cent, followed by machinery and transport equipment (12.9 per cent), chemicals (11.6 per cent), food (8.2 per cent) and manufactured goods (7.12 per cent).
The IMTS for Brunei Darussalam adopts the General System for recording trade statistics, which covers imports, domestic exports, and re-exports.