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Indonesia's export, trade surpluses hit record high again in October
Export and trade surpluses rose to a record level in October, supported by surging commodity prices, especially coal and crude palm oil.
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Export commodity: Workers load palm fruit bunches to be processed into crude palm oil and kernel for export at PT Indo Sawit Subur Riau’s factory in this file picture. (JP/Ricky Yudhistira)
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ndonesia booked further record-high export and trade surpluses in October, bolstered once more by high coal and crude palm oil (CPO) prices, benefiting from a recovery in global trade.
Statistics Indonesia (BPS) reported on Monday that exports grew by 53.35 percent year-on-year (yoy) to US$22.03 billion in October. Similarly, imports rose by 51.06 percent to $16.29 billion from a year earlier.
This brought the trade surplus to stand at $5.73 billion in October, marking an increase of 60.06 percent from a year earlier.
“The largest contributor to the increase in exports is coal exports, followed by CPO and iron and steel,” BPS head Margo Yuwono said in a virtual press briefing. “Export volumes for these commodities also rose, meaning there was a rise in demand from our export destination countries.”
Indonesia has seen surging exports that have led to record-breaking trade surpluses several times during the pandemic, in part because of rising demand from major trading partners that have reemerged from lockdowns.
Read also: Exports, imports fall in September as trade slows down
Mining exports, which accounted for one-fifth of overall exports, posted the fastest growth at 190.57 percent yoy to $4.53 billion, in line with high commodity prices, especially coal. This was followed by oil and gas and manufacturing.
