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Copper, jewelry buoy RI exports amid weakness in coal, CPO
Indonesia’s trade surplus rose in May as the country’s exports continued to exceed imports, yet the cumulative figure for the first five months of 2024 is below what it was in the same period last year.
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Cranes are used to lift logs at Tanjung Emas Port in Semarang, Central Java, on May 22, 2024. (Antara/Makna Zaezar)
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ndonesia’s trade balance has remained positive for 49 consecutive months as the country’s exports exceeded imports by US$2.93 billion in May.
The figure is up slightly from the $2.72 billion surplus recorded in the preceding month and close to the $3 billion forecast from Moody’s Analytics.
As Statistics Indonesia (BPS) revealed in its latest monthly trade report published on Wednesday, the surplus was backed by strong exports of copper ore and jewelry, which saw annual increases of 60.09 and 67.27 percent, respectively.
Outbound shipments of steel, one of the country’s main export commodities, were up 8.3 percent year-on-year (yoy) last month.
Shipments of primary Indonesian exports commodities coal and crude palm oil (CPO), however, declined in value terms, as their prices per tonne were down on the month as well as on the year, the BPS data show.
“Coal exports dropped 4.04 percent month-to-month [mtm] and 16.85 percent yoy in May. On top of that, CPO exports also decreased by 22.19 percent mtm and 27.11 percent yoy,” BPS deputy head Muhammad Habibullah said during a media briefing on Wednesday.
Overall exports from Indonesia were up 2.86 percent yoy at $22.33 billion in May, but the cumulative figure for January through May was down 3.52 percent yoy due to lower exports of those primary commodities.
