Indonesia Records Surplus in September Trade Balance
Indonesias export value in September 2018 reaches US$14.83 billion or 6.58% lower than the value in August 2018 but 1.70 % higher than that of September last year, according to the Central Statistics Agency (BPS).
In the meantime, the import value in the same month stands at US$14.60 billion, 13.18 % lower than that of August 2018 but 14.18% higher compared to that of September 2017.
“The value of the trade balance in September 2018 records a US$227 million surplus,” BPS Head Suhariyanto said in Jakarta, Monday (15/10).
According to the Suhariyanto, the decline in export in September 2018 (compared to that of August 2018) is due to a 5.67 % decrease in non-oil and gas exports, from US$14.439 billion to US$13.620 billion. In addition, oil and gas export also shows 15.81% decrease, from US$1.434 billion to US$1.207 billion.
“Cumulatively, the export value from January to September 2018 reaches US$134.99 billion, 9.4 % higher compared to that in the same period in 2017,” Suhariyanto explained.
Suhariyanto added that the largest decline in non-oil and gas export in September 2018, compared to August 2018, is export in electrical machinery/electrical equipment amounting to US$98.2 million (11.48%), while the highest increase is in ore, crust and metal ash amounting to US$75.3 million (18.86%).
Suhariyanto went on to say that the top export destinations for Indonesia are China with US$1.93 billion export value, followed by the United States with US$1.49 billion, and Japan with US$1.33 billion. Those three countries constitute 34.83% of Indonesias export value, while export to the European Union (28 countries) amounts to 1.39 billion US dollars.
Based on the province of origin, Suhariyanto said that Indonesia’s largest export from January to September 2018 comes from West Java with US$ 22.76 billion (16.86%) followed by East Java with US$ 14.26 billion (10.56%) and East Kalimantan with US$ 13.67 billion (10.13%).
In the meantime, Indonesia’s import value in September 2018 reaches US$14.60 billion dollars, 13.18% lower compared to that of August 2018 but 14.18% higher than the import in September 2017.
Non-oil and gas import in September 2018, according to Suhariyanto, reaches US$ 12.32 billion, 10.52% lower than that of August 2018 but 13.54 % higher compared to import in September 2017, while oil and gas import in September 2018 reaches 2.28 billion US dollars, a 25.20% decrease from August 2018 and a 17.75% increase compared to September 2017.
“The largest decline in non-oil and gas import in September 2018, compared to August 2018, is electrical machinery/electrical equipment import with US$ 259.5 million (13.22%) while the highest increase is fruit import with US$ 42.2 million (66.46%),” Suhariyanto said.
Suhariyanto added that the three biggest exporting countries to Indonesia in non-oil and gas from January to September 2018 are China with USS 32.48 billion (27.83 %), Japan with US$ 13.31 billion (11.40%) and Thailand with US$ 8.21 billion (7.03 %) while Indonesia non-oil and gas import from ASEAN is 20.42% and from the European Union is 9.11%.
According to Suhariyanto, the import value of all categories, including consumer goods, raw/auxiliary materials and capital goods, from January to September 2018 increases compared to the same period of the previous year with 26.39 %, 22.06 % and 27.86 % increase respectively. (Humas BPS/ES) (RI/EP/Naster)
