Electronic goods export dives as rupiah depreciates

Electronic goods export dives as rupiah depreciates

JAKARTA (JP): The country's exports of electronic goods
declined 11.52 percent to US$2.72 billion in the January-November
period last year compared to the corresponding period in 1997.

According to the latest data issued by the Ministry of
Industry and Trade, exports of several other products, including
processed wood and palm oil, also suffered declines, but textile
and textile-related products reported stronger growth.

Minister of Trade and Industry Rahardi Ramelan attributed the
drop in electronic exports to the plunge of the rupiah against
the U.S. dollar.

The minister said the rupiah's sharp depreciation dealt an
acute blow to electronic companies, which import most of their
raw materials.

"The electronic industry, which mostly relies on imported
components, faces financial problems in securing raw materials,"
the minister was quoted by Antara as saying.

Exports of processed wood and palm oil also dropped.

Processed wood decreased 23.96 percent to US$4.3 billion,
while palm oil fell 29.62 percent to $1.55 billion.

The government's move of applying a sharp hike to 60 percent
for the palm oil export tax in 1998 was responsible for the
decline, according to Rahardi.

The minister acknowledged the high export tax was to blame but
stressed the move was needed to protect the domestic supply of
cooking oil.

The government reduced the 60 percent export tax to 40 percent
effective Feb. 1.

Not all domestic products performed badly during the period.
Exports of textile and textile-related products, which have shown
strong growth during the past five years, were unaffected by the
crisis.

"Indonesia's textile and textile-related products are still
strong and resilient in the international market during the
current economic crisis," Rahardi said.

Exports of textile and textile-related products increased 1.37
percent to $6.69 billion during the 10-month period.

Other products experiencing export increases included steel,
machinery and automobile parts. Exports of those products were up
47.47 percent to $2.34 billion. Processed gold, silver and
jewelry soared 141.80 percent to $2.09 billion. (02)