There was a surprise rebound in exports from Malaysia in April, despite analysts' predictions that trade would decline.

According to new data released by the country's Department of Statistics yesterday (June 3rd 2019), the value of exports rose by 1.1 per cent during the month, up from a 0.5 per cent decline in March and confounding Reuters' expectations of a one per cent decrease.

The agency said this had been driven by more exports to Singapore, Vietnam, Japan, Taiwan and the US, boosted by higher shipments of manufactured and electrical goods.

Furthermore, imports into Malaysia increased 4.4 per cent in April, again contradicting forecasts of a 0.2 per cent fall.

The imports mainly came from China, Saudi Arabia, Australia, Iraq and Indonesia.

Many may be surprised by this news, as Malaysia has been one of the countries affected by the trade war between the US and China as a significant exporter to the latter.

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