Data unveiled by Statistics Indonesia (BPS) in a press conference on Monday showed that last month’s trade balance, or total exports minus imports, amounted to a US$4.33 billion surplus, higher than the $3.1 billion surplus recorded in the preceding month.

March marked Indonesia’s “59th consecutive month” of trade surplus in a rally that began in May 2020, BPS head Amalia Adininggar Widyasanti explained, adding that bilateral trade with the US contributed most to positive net exports last month.

At $1.98 billion, Indonesia’s non-oil and gas trade surplus with the US in March was the highest logged in bilateral trade with the world’s largest economy since the $2 billion surplus in March 2022.

Shipments of electrical machinery and equipment alongside footwear and crude palm oil (CPO) were the commodities that contributed the most to the surplus with the US, Amalia said.

The BPS head disclosed that the US, the world’s largest consumer market, was Indonesia’s largest export destination for numerous goods. For instance, it absorbed 63 percent of certain apparel and accessories throughout this year’s first three months, while Japan, the next largest market, only bought 5.41 percent of the same goods.

Similarly, 34 percent of Indonesian footwear exports went to the US, while the next largest market was responsible for less than 10 percent.