Bandar Seri Begawan - The Total International Merchandise Trade for the second quarter of 2012 decreased by 12.1 per cent to $4,968.51 million, compared to the first quarter of 2012.

This was attributed to the decrease in exports by 17.5 per cent. Compared to the second quarter 2011, the total trade increased by 14.7 per cent, which was due to higher exports and imports by 8.6 per cent and 39.3 per cent respectively, the Department of Economic Planning and Development ( JPKE) said yesterday.

The decreases in all major exports such as crude oil by 19.5 per cent, LNG (11 per cent) and methanol (48.5 per cent) were attributed to the decrease in total exports. Japan was the dominant export market for Brunei Darussalam, accounting for 47.7 per cent of total exports. The other top export markets were Republic of Korea (13.6 per cent), Asean member countries (13.4 per cent), India (10.8 per cent) and Australia (9.7 per cent).

Total imports increased to $1,190.87 million from $1,073.55 million in the first quarter of 2012. The main commodities that registered increases were miscellaneous transactions and commodities not elsewhere classified (128 per cent), miscellaneous manufactured articles (72.7 per cent), chemicals and related products (28 per cent), machinery and transport equipments (22.9 per cent), and food and live animals (16.6 per cent).

Imports from Asean member countries accounted for 50.6 per cent of the total, which mainly came from Singapore (48.9 per cent) and Malaysia (35.9 per cent). This was followed by the EU (11.1 per cent), China (10.5 per cent) and Japan (8.5 per cent). The full report for the second quarter of 2012 is available from the JPKE website at www.depd.gov.bn.

--Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin