Coal Exports Plunge 16%, While CPO Surges 59.6%

Indonesia’s performance in exporting its key commodities including crude palm oil (CPO), iron and steel, and coal was underwhelming in January 2026, with two of the three commodities recording significant declines.

Deputy for Statistical Distribution and Services at Statistics Indonesia (BPS) Ateng Hartono explained that coal exports fell 16.04% year-on-year to USD 1.82 billion, accounting for 8.56% of total exports. The volume of coal exports also declined by 2.87%.

Iron and steel exports, which comprised 9.97% of total exports, declined by 0.13% to USD 2.12 billion. However, the volume of iron and steel exports increased by 6.65%.

CPO was the only key commodity to post positive growth, surging 59.63% to USD 2.29 billion with a share of 10.78% of total exports. Export volumes for CPO and its derivatives increased by 77.07%.