Despite booking another trade surplus for the month of April, Indonesia saw an overall year-on-year decline in exports, including in energy, mining and manufacturing, mainly due to plunging commodity prices.

According to data released by the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) on Monday, Southeast Asia’s biggest economy posted a US$667 million trade surplus in April, slightly higher than March’s figure of $508 million.

However, the data revealed that April saw 12.65 percent drop in exports year-on-year (yoy), to $11.45 billion, which is also a 3 percent decline from the previous month. In total, the country saw a 39.3 percent drop in oil and gas exports for January-April yoy, this year exporting $4.3 billion so far.

BPS deputy head of distribution and statistics Sasmito Hadi Wibowo said the drop in exports was largely due to declining oil and gas exports, which he said was caused by declining energy prices in the global market.

The value of oil and gas exports also declined 39 percent yoy to $886 million in April, down 28.44 percent from the previous month — the lowest monthly drop in oil and gas exports this year.

Sasmito, however, insists that the sharp decline in oil and gas exports is seasonal, and will soon improve.

“The drop corresponds to declining [oil and gas] prices,” he said in a press briefing.

The mining sector also saw a 27.23 percent drop in exports yoy in April to $1.6 billion. Similarly, exports in the agriculture sector also plunged 27 percent yoy last month, to $289 million, while the manufacturing industry saw a smaller drop of 5.8 percent yoy.

Furthermore, total imports from January to April dropped 13.44 percent yoy. Imports on capital goods dropped 17 percent and on raw and auxiliary goods 15.38 percent. Consumer goods imports rose 16.42 percent.

In total, the country has seen a $2.3 billion trade surplus from January to April, down by 13.63 percent compared to the same period last year.

Samuel Sekuritas economist Lana Soelistianingsih said despite the trade surplus, the figures were not looking good for Indonesia. In terms of exports, she said, there were declining demands from the country’s trade partners, whether seasonal or due to the prolonged effects of the economic slowdown.

However, Lana said she was concerned by the low raw materials and auxiliary goods imports, which are used by the industrial sector.

“Importing raw materials reflects economic activity for the following three months [...] this means that business in several sectors is still weak,” Lana told The Jakarta Post over the phone.

There were high expectations for April because of improving figures in March, she said, but the country’s performance had been below expectations. Lana predicted flat trade numbers for the upcoming months, as trends caused by the economic slowdown were seemingly here to stay.

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