Malaysia's trade surplus in June rose 6.9 percent from May to RM8.61 billion (US$2.46 billion) on increased exports of electronic products and oil, the government said today.

The June figure was also 11.3 percent higher from a year earlier and marked the 104th consecutive monthly surplus since November 1997, the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (Miti) said in a statement.

June exports were 11.4 percent higher year-on-year at RM49.61 billion while imports rose 11.4 percent to RM40.99 billion.

Major markets

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), the United States, the European Union, China, Japan and Hong Kong were Malaysia's major markets, taking 78.2 percent of its total exports in June.

Exports to the US, mainly comprised of electronic products, in June reached a record high of RM10 billion, accounting for 20.2 percent of total exports, it said.

Miti said that for the first six months of 2006, exports grew 10.6 percent to RM280.26 billion, while imports expanded 12.6 percent to RM231.25 billion, resulting in a trade surplus of RM49.01 billion.