Indonesia is seen as having a significant opportunity to create new\nexport engines beyond its mainstay commodities like crude palm oil\n(CPO), coal, and nickel. Plantation commodities such as coffee, nutmeg,\ncocoa, and coconut are considered to have the potential to support\nexport growth while boosting the national economy.<\/p>\n
Andry Asmoro, Chief Economist at PT Bank Mandiri (Persero) Tbk,\nstated that Indonesia has an advantage as one of the world\u2019s largest\ncoffee producers. He also noted that demand for cocoa and coconut\ncommodities is continuously increasing, particularly from South Asian\ncountries like India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.<\/p>\n
According to him, these commodities could become new sources of\nexport growth from the agriculture, plantation, and fisheries sectors,\nwhich only grew by 2.6% year-on-year in the second quarter of 2026.\n\u201cThis sector must receive serious attention. If growth in the\nagriculture, plantation, and fisheries sectors can be pushed higher,\ncoupled with the manufacturing sector, Indonesia can grow sustainably\nabove 5.5%, even reaching 6%,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He assessed that strengthening non-traditional commodity exports is\nincreasingly important amid Indonesia\u2019s efforts to reverse its trade\nbalance, which has recorded a deficit for the last two months. This\nmomentum is considered more open as global crude oil prices ease. Based\non Refinitiv data, Brent crude oil prices were at US$87.95 per barrel,\ndown from the US$90-100 per barrel range seen at the end of the first\nand second quarters of this year.<\/p>\n
Andry estimates that oil prices will move to an equilibrium level in\nthe range of US$70-80 per barrel. If this condition persists, the\npressure from Indonesia\u2019s energy imports could potentially be reduced.\n\u201cIf this can be maintained, our import burden should be relatively\nlighter going forward,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Therefore, he believes the government needs to capitalise on the\nmomentum of falling oil prices to accelerate export growth. \u201cNow it\u2019s\njust a matter of maintaining our export growth amidst opportunities that\nare actually quite large,\u201d Andry added.<\/p>\n
For the record, Indonesia has recorded a trade balance deficit for\ntwo consecutive months. The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) reported a\ntrade deficit of US$450 million in June 2026, following a larger deficit\nof US$1.61 billion in May 2026. This condition has also widened the net\nexport deficit in Indonesia\u2019s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) expenditure\ncomponent in the second quarter of 2026 to minus 0.78%, compared to\nminus 0.02% in the same period last year.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/economist-reveals-indonesias-export-treasure-beyond-nickel-cpo-and-coal-1786621968", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }