Export down 1.06% in October: BPS

Rendi A. Witular, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Exports declined by 1.06 percent in October from the previous month, mainly because of a 11.5 percent decline in oil and gas export, the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) said on Monday.

The agency reported that exports in October reached US$4.99 billion, down from $5.04 billion in September, bringing the ten- month total to $50.73 billion.

Total exports during the January-October period, however, increased by 6 percent compared to the same period last year.

"The drop in the oil and gas export to $1.02 billion from $1.59 billion in September triggered the decline in our overall export performance," said BPS chairperson Sudarti Soerbakti.

According to the agency's report, crude oil export in October dropped by 6.6 percent to $447 million, oil products plunged by 38.14 percent to $74.2 million and natural gas fell by 9.98 percent to $503 billion.

Sudarti, however, was optimistic that the government's 2003 export target of $60 billion was still attainable, as an increase in non-oil and gas exports could offset the decline in oil and gas exports.

Non-oil and gas exports in October rose by 2.05 percent to $3.96 billion from $3.88 billion in September, with paper and cardboard contributing the largest increase, from $63.7 million to $1.73 billion.

Wood products also contributed to the growth with a jump in export value of $42.6 million to $2.60 billion, followed by footwear which filed a surge of $37.2 million to $1.05 billion.

Non-oil and gas exports in the first 10 months posted $39.31 billion, a slight increase from the $38.02 billion posted in the same period last year.

"If our non-oil and gas exports keep improving in November and December, I am optimistic that we can meet the export target by the end of the year," said Sudarti.

Exports -- while only contributing less than 10 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) -- remains a key measure of the pace of economic recovery.

The country's export performance has started to recover, albeit modestly, from a setback last year.

During the first 10 months of this year, the U.S. remained Indonesia's largest export destination, although non-oil and gas exports to the U.S. declined to $5.97 billion from $6.16 billion in the same period last year.

Trailing closely as the second- and third largest export destination are Japan and Singapore, respectively. While non-oil and gas exports to Japan rose to $5.54 billion from $5.32 billion last year, exports to Singapore was slightly lower at $3.93 billion from $4.04 billion in 2002.

The report also showed that the stronger export performance, coupled with a drop in imports to $2.75 billion in October from $2.79 billion in September, pushed the trade surplus to $2.24 billion.

Imports in the first 10 months rose by 5.84 percent to $26.87 billion from $25.39 billion a year earlier, with non-oil and gas imports rising 2.52 percent to $20.57 billion.

Top 10 non-oil and gas exports (in billions/US$)

Goods Jan-Oct Jan-Oct

2002 2003

1. Electrical machinery/equipment 5.24 5.10

2. Wood products 2.76 2.60

3. Mechanical equipment/machinery 2.58 2.32

4. Metal ores/powder 1.51 1.88

5. Paper/cardboard 1.82 1.73

6. Rubber/rubber products 1.31 1.65

7. Hydrocarbon fuels 1.48 1.61

8. Household goods/equipment 1.29 1.34

9. Footwear 1.02 1.05

10. Organic chemicals .904 .963

Source: BPS