Brunei Darussalam’s total trade is valued at BND1,132.6 million, a decrease by 7.9 per cent from BND1,229.8 million during the same month last year.
Meanwhile, for month-on-month changes, total trade for June 2020 decreased by 13.1 per cent compared to May 2020.
Exports decreased by 15.3 per cent year-on-year to BND537.4 million compared to BND634.4 million in June 2019 due to the decline in crude oil exports to BND112.4 million (June 2020) from BND288.7 million (June 2019) as well as a decrease in Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) exports to BND199.1 million (June 2020) from BND267.1 million (June 2019).
The decline was mainly contributed by the slow global demand amid the COVID-19 pandemic, coupled with a decrease in the crude oil export prices. The total exports volume decreased to 78.04 thousand barrels per day (June 2020) from 107.84 thousand barrels per day (June 2019), while the average export prices fell to USD34.52 per barrel (June 2020) from USD67.91 per barrel (June 2019).
Meanwhile, LNG exports declined due to a decrease in the average export price to USD4.26 per MMBtu (June 2020) from USD8.98 per MMBtu (June 2019).
Mineral Fuels represent the major contributor to Brunei Darussalam’s exports with 77.7 per cent, followed by Chemicals (20.3 per cent), Machinery and Transport Equipment (1.1 per cent), Food (0.3 per cent) and Miscellaneous Transactions (0.2 per cent).
The main exports market in June 2020 was Japan (38 per cent), followed by People’s Republic of China (28 per cent) and Singapore (7.6 per cent).
For imports, the total value decreased slightly to BND595.2 million (June 2020) from BND595.4 million (June 2019).
However, Imports of Machinery and Transport Equipment and Manufactured Goods recorded double-digit growth at 61.2 per cent and 60.2 per cent respectively, mainly to support the increase of domestic production in the manufacturing industry to stimulate economic growth.
The five main import commodities were Machinery and Transport Equipment (40.8 per cent), followed by Mineral Fuels (16.4 per cent), anufactured Goods (15.5 per cent), Chemicals (12.5 per cent), and Food (8.5 per cent).
By End Use category, imports of Intermediate Goods accounted for 56.3 per cent of the total imports, followed by Capital Goods (37.6 per cent) and Consumption Goods
(6.1 per cent). According to the mode of transport, the highest share was transported by sea, amounting to BND1,010.6 million (89.2 per cent).
This was followed by air transport (BND107.7 million or 9.5 per cent) and via land (BND14.1 million or 1.3 per cent).
For imports by trading partners, the highest share was from Singapore (23.6 per cent), followed by Malaysia (15.2 per cent), and People’s Republic of China (11 per cent).
The International Merchandise Trade Statistics (IMTS) for Brunei Darussalam adopts the General System for recording trade statistics, which covers imports, domestic exports, and re-exports.
The IMTS full report for June 2020 is available from the Department of Economic Planning and Statistics’ (JPES) website: www.deps.gov.bn.
