Malaysia's trade surplus in September rose 10.3 percent from August to RM9.79 billion due to strong exports of electronic products.

The September figure was 28.6 percent higher than the same period a year earlier and marked the 107th consecutive monthly surplus since November 1997, the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) said in a statement.

September exports were 10.1 percent higher year-on-year at RM52.63 billion while imports rose 6.9 percent to RM42.84 billion.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), the United States, the European Union, Japan, China and Hong Kong were Malaysia's major markets, taking 79.9 percent of its total exports in September.

Exports to the US, mainly comprised of electronic products and palm oil, in September hit RM9.87 billion, accounting for 18.8 percent of total exports, it said.

MITI said that for the first nine months of 2006, exports grew 11.6 percent to RM436.48 billion, while imports expanded 11.5 percent to RM358.92 billion, resulting in a trade surplus of RM77.56 billion.