TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Indonesia’s record trade surplus ‘unsustainable’ as CPO prices plummet
Indonesia achieved its biggest-ever trade surplus in the first half of 2022, but experts warn the domestic economy’s heavy reliance on raw materials like crude palm oil (CPO) and coal makes the strong export-performance unsustainable.
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
Oil palm farmers bring palm fruit to a protest against the government's export ban in Jakarta on May 17, 2022. The ban has since been revoked. (AFP/Mariana )
I
ndonesia achieved its biggest-ever trade surplus in the first half of 2022, but experts warn that relying on raw materials like crude palm oil (CPO) and coal as the bulwark of productivity is unsustainable in the long run.
They agree that a wide range of factors will narrow the trade surplus, or even turn it into a deficit, if fundamental aspects of the domestic economy are not changed.
The archipelagic nation’s exports to the rest of the world exceeded its imports by US$24.89 billion. That is more than twice the surplus the country achieved in the equivalent period of 2021.
“[Last] semester's surplus is the highest [...]; this is very good news for us,” Statistics Indonesia (BPS) head Margo Yuwono said on July 15 during a press conference to present the latest trade data.
In the month of June, Indonesia’s surplus amounted to $5.09 billion, which is almost four times as high as a year earlier and up around 75 percent from the preceding month. It also handily exceeded an estimate by Bank Mandiri economists for a surplus of $3.34 billion.
The details of the trade report show that raw materials continue to be of prime importance.
Coal and CPO were the largest contributors to exports in the first half of the year with shipments amounting to $24.11 billion (17.09 percent of the total) and $15.14 billion (10.73 percent of the total), respectively.
