Exports from the manufacturing sector grew to US$17.6bil in February from US$13.62bil a year prior. — The Jakarta Post
JAKARTA: Exports from Indonesia’s manufacturing and agriculture sectors have seen strong growth, thanks to a considerable boost from crude palm oil (CPO) and machinery, but the mining industry has suffered a sharp annual decline.
Statistics Indonesia (BPS) head Amalia Adininggar Widyasanti revealed in a press briefing on Monday that exports from the manufacturing sector grew to US$17.6bil in February from US$13.62bil a year prior.
That represents a growth rate of 29.5% year-on-year (y-o-y) and a 3.1% increase month-on-month (m-o-m) from US$17.1bil in January.
Palm oil products, machinery and jewellery were “the commodities that pushed up the exports from the manufacturing sector”, Amalia explained, with y-o-y growth rates of 84.1%, 92% and 113%, respectively.
Representing 11% of February’s export value pie, shipments of CPO and its derivatives amounted to US$2.27bil, almost doubling from the US$1.2bil registered in the same month of last year, and 58% higher than the US$1.44bil logged in January.
January’s CPO price of US$1,134 per tonne was slightly higher than last month’s US$1,101, but the archipelago shipped out almost twice as much, according to the statistics agency.
The commodity’s price has been on an upward trend since November due in part to supply constraints as a result of lower output from Malaysia brought about by flooding that caused waterlogging and harvesting delays.
Malaysia, which is the world’s second-largest CPO exporter after Indonesia, experienced its most severe floods in decades in November and another wave of floods in January in the southern state of Johor alongside Sarawak and Sabah.
Sarawak and Sabah are home to more than half of Malaysia’s 5.61 million hectares of oil palm plantations.
Exports from Indonesia’s agriculture sector also saw strong growth at 52% y-o-y, but Amalia did not elaborate on the reasons for the increase.
The mining sector, on the other hand, experienced a deep 35% yearly contraction as coal prices dropped from US$78 per tonne in February last year to US$67.6 last month.
Responsible for about 10% of the overall export value, Indonesia also shipped out less coal last month than it had done a year prior.
India, the archipelago’s largest coal export destination, bought 2.5 million tonnes less of the fossil fuel in the first two months of this year.
The world’s most populous country has reduced coal imports as New Delhi aims to become self-reliant in terms of energy supplies by increasing domestic coal production. — The Jakarta Post/ANN
