JakartaPost-May 15, 2024
Indonesia’s trade surplus narrowed in April as exports dropped more than imports from the preceding month, partly because of fewer working days and partly because of a fall in prices for some export commodities, notably crude palm oil (CPO). The trade balance remained in surplus for the 48th month in a row as exports exceeded imports by US$3.56 billion, according to Statistics Indonesia (BPS) data published on Wednesday. However, the trade surplus dropped by more than a fifth when compared to the preceding month and came in almost 10 percent lower than in April last year. Josua Pardede, chief economist at private lender Bank Permata, noted in a statement on Wednesday that the trade surplus was continuing to shrink amid normalizing global commodity prices and heightened global uncertainty that had hampered world trade and demand. “This April, both exports and imports saw declines, particularly due to fewer working days amid the Idul Fitri festivities,” Josua said.
The country exported $19.62 billion worth of goods last month, which marks a decline of 13 percent from the previous month but still represents an uptick of 1.72 percent year-on-year (yoy). The drop in exports was mainly attributed to reduced shipments of manufacturing products, such as jewellery, gold, electrical equipment and textiles, while CPO, which accounts for the third-largest share of exports, also plunged more than 10 percent month-to-month (mtm) this April. An almost 2 percent monthly increase outgoing shipments of coal as well as of iron and steel, the two largest export contributors, failed to make up for the drop in exports of other goods. On an annual basis, the value of coal shipments was down almost 20 percent, but exports of iron and steel as well as CPO were up on the year, albeit by less than 1 percent. Meanwhile, overall imports declined by 10.58 percent in April but were still up 4.64 percent yoy at $16.06 billion. Read more at:
