Indonesia's exports, imports slow in June, says BPS

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia's international trade activities slowed in June, with both exports and imports down from the previous month.

According to data released from the Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) on Wednesday, exports in June declined slightly by 0.96 percent to US$4.80 billion from the previous month due to a decrease in both oil and gas and non-oil and gas exports.

Oil and gas exports decreased by 3.39 percent to $1.09 billion in June from the previous month, but increased by 6.75 percent for the first six months of the year to $6.97 billion compared to the same period last year.

Non-oil and gas exports also declined by 0.23 percent to $3.71 billion in June, while the January to June figure decreased by 2.16 percent to $22.33 billion compared to the same period last year.

The decrease in oil and gas exports was caused by a slump in the price of Indonesian crude oil on the international market to $27.25 per barrel in June from $27.85 per barrel in the previous month.

Exports dropped for a number of destination countries, especially Singapore, China and Malaysia.

Nevertheless, Indonesia's exports to other traditional markets, such as the United States, Japan, Germany, Taiwan, South Korea and Australia, all recorded increases in value.

Meanwhile, imports for June this year also declined by 2.34 percent to $2.78 billion, compared to the previous month, the board said.

Between January and June this year, imports reached $17.75 billion, or an increase of 29.10 percent compared to the same period last year.

Non-oil and gas imports in June came in at $2.29 billion, or a decrease of 5.77 percent compared to the previous month. However, non-oil and gas imports increased 37.24 percent during the first six months of the year to $15.23 billion compared to the same period last year. (tnt)