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Indonesia's exports continued to increase last month, spurred
by demand for the country's main commodities -- metal ores, coal,
rubber and crude palm oil (CPO) -- the latest trade figures show.
March exports amounted to US$9 billion, the Central Statistics Agency
(BPS) reported Tuesday, meaning that Indonesia's exports for the first
three months reached US$25.86 billion, up 15 percent from the same
period last year.
Imports between January and March also grew by 15 percent to $15.35
billion, leaving Indonesia with a trade surplus of $10.51 billion.
"The figure for March's exports is the second highest ever after
December 2006's $9.5 billion," BPS director Rusman Heriawan said.
"This strong export performance should help support economic growth in
the first quarter."
Having regard to historical trends, this year's first quarter export
growth was higher than 2006's 12 percent, although still lower than
2005's 31 percent, while exports in the first quarter of 2004
experienced a slight dip.
Monthly exports in March have consistently grown over the past three
years.
The government is targeting 20 percent export growth for 2007 so as to
help the country achieve economic growth of 6.3 percent. Indonesia's
exports grew by 17 percent to $100.69 billion last year, surpassing the
$100 billion mark for the first time.
The country's exporters have said that exports would probably grow by a
disappointing 14 percent this year if the government failed to reduce
red tape and the high cost of doing business here.
Elaborating further of the first-quarter trade figures, Rusman said
that Indonesia's non-oil-and-gas exports were up 23 percent to $21.36
billion, with Japan, the U.S. and Singapore being the main buyers.
Meanwhile, oil-and-gas exports declined by 18 percent to $4.4 billion.
Building on the recent rises in global metal prices, Indonesia's
exports of metal ores such as nickel, copper and gold saw the highest
growth -- 75 percent to $1.56 billion, while exports of coal and other
bituminous fuels were up 37 percent to $1.77 billion.
Exports of other main commodities such as rubber grew by 11 percent to
1.36 billion, while that of edible oil and fat -- including CPO -- by 8
percent to $1.3 billion.
The export figures show that Indonesia still relies greatly on
commodities exports, with exports of manufactured goods, such as
machinery, increasing by only 7.5 percent to $1.85 billion.
Indonesia's non-oil-and-gas imports, meanwhile, amounted to $11.4
billion during March, and consisted mostly of machinery imports from
China -- which may translate into more exports ahead should the
machinery be used for manufacturing purposes.
In the services sector, the BPS reported that Indonesia's tourism
industry saw a 15 percent rise in overseas visitors in March, meaning
an extra 361,800 foreign tourists, as compared to the same month last
year.
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