Sabah finance minister Masidi Manjun said the decline was due to a decrease in total export value for primary commodities, particularly crude petroleum oil and crude palm oil (CPO).
He said the decline in crude petroleum oil exports value was contributed by the decrease in the export quantity of 7.8% and lower market price, averaging at US$80.59 (US$1=RM4.68) per barrel, a decrease of 24.5% from US$106.74 per barrel in 2022.
“This led to the Sabah crude petroleum oil export value to ease 21.1%,” he said, when tabling the state Budget 2024, here.
Masidi said the drop in the CPO export value was also due to the fall in market price.
“The average CPO price eased 31.18% to RM3,873.63 per tonne compared to RM5,628.13 per tonne for the same period last year.
“The decline in CPO price contributed to the 27.9% reduction in export value while total import recorded an increase of 3.4% to RM27.3 billion from RM26.4 billion in the same period last year.”
He said the increase in total imports was contributed by the rise in the import value of the state’s primary goods such as machinery, transport equipment, food and fuel, minerals and lubricants.
However, Masidi said he is optimistic that Sabah could maintain its positive growth momentum this year through strong domestic consumption, increased private and public investment as well as continuous recovery of key economic sectors.
Besides that, he said the growth was supported by the recovery in the labour market, which saw the unemployment rate decline to 7.5% in the second quarter of this year compared with 8.6% in the same period last year.
Masidi said he was confident the state’s economic growth for next year would stay positive at a rate of 4% following the implementation of various high-impact initiatives to intensify and accelerate the economic recovery.
“As of this September, Sabah recorded an inflation rate of 1.8%, slightly lower than the national inflation rate of 1.9%.
“The state government will continue to implement various initiatives to control prices of goods and stabilise inflation rate in the state to lessen the burden and cost of living pressure.”
He said the rapid growth in the industrial sector of the state is attracting new investments with Sabah listed as the fifth highest state to receive foreign and domestic investments worth RM9 billion in primary, manufacturing and service sectors as of the middle of the year.
Masidi said South Korea’s SK Nexilis Malaysia Sdn Bhd and Kibing group from China had brought in investments of RM6.76 billion.
He said the construction of SK Nexilis’ copper foil factory in Kota Kinabalu Industrial Park (KKIP) was at 96.8%, with the first export of 102 tonnes of copper foil to the United States on Oct 23.
The minister said the construction of the factory involved 2,295 workers of which, 56% are Sabahan, while 275 workers, consisting of 91% locals, were involved in the operations of the factory.
For the Kibing group, he said the construction of the solar glass factory in KKIP has reached 72% and is expected to be completed in the first quarter of this year while construction of the silica sand processing factory in Sikuati, Kudat has reached 85% and is expected to be fully completed by the end of this year.
“A total of 1,100 Sabahans worked at the solar glass factory in KKIP and 164 people in the silica sand processing factory in Sikuati.”