THE Total Trade in March 2018 has increased to BND1,145.2 million compared to BND1,026.8 million in March 2017, representing an increase of 11.5 per cent year-on-year.
Total exports increased by 20.0 per cent year-on-year to BND754.8 million from BND628.9 million in March 2017. This was mainly attributed to the increases in both Crude Oil and LNG exports by 20.7 per cent and 21.5 per cent year-on-year respectively resulting from an increase in the average price of Crude Oil, as well as increases in both the average price and volume of LNG exports.
Total imports of goods fell by 1.9 per cent year-on-year from BND397.9 million (March 2017) to BND390.4 million (March 2018). Meanwhile, the main five contributors to imports were Machinery and Transport Equipment (39.4 per cent), Manufactured Goods (22.8 per cent), Food (15.7 per cent), Mineral Fuels (6.9 per cent) and Miscellaneous Manufactured Articles (6.7 per cent).
In March 2018, the biggest export markets were Japan with 31.1 per cent of total exports, followed by Thailand (16.2 per cent), India (14.9 per cent), Australia (10.7 per cent), the Republic of Korea (10.6 per cent) and others.
In terms of imports by country of origin, the highest share came from China with 29.4 per cent, followed by Malaysia (16.3 per cent), Singapore (16.0 per cent) and others.
The International Merchandise Trade Statistics (IMTS) for Brunei Darussalam adopts the General System for recording trade statistics, which cover imports, domestic exports, and re-exports.
The IMTS full report for March 2018 is available from the Department of Economic Planning and Development’s (JPKE) website at www.depd.gov.bn. – JPKE
