Ministry of Trade: Processing Industry Dominates Indonesia's Exports at the Start of 2026
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Ministry of Trade (Kemendag) recorded that the processing industry sector, including nickel, aluminium, and organic chemical materials, drove export growth during the January-March 2026 period.
Trade Minister Budi Santoso stated that the processing industry also dominated the structure of total export share in that period at 82.25%.
“Throughout the first three months of 2026, export growth was driven by the performance of the processing industry sector, which rose 3.96% to $54.98 billion compared to $52.89 billion in the January-March 2025 period,” Budi said in a statement in Jakarta on Wednesday.
The highest increases occurred in nickel and its derivatives, which surged 60.60%; tin and its derivatives 49.09%; aluminium and its derivatives 40.97%; organic chemicals 21.44%; and inorganic chemicals 14.46% cumulatively.
According to Budi, this increase was influenced by global price trends and demand from trading partners.
However, the agricultural sector’s export performance fell 32.18%, and the mining and other sectors declined 11.17% in the January-March 2026 period. Coffee, tea, and spices were the agricultural commodities with the deepest export drop at 40.15%.
Cumulatively for January-March 2026, Indonesia’s total exports reached $66.85 billion, or a slim growth of 0.34% compared to the same period last year.
This performance was mainly supported by non-oil and gas exports, which increased 0.98% to $63.60 billion, amid a contraction in oil and gas exports of 10.58% to $3.25 billion.
In terms of export destinations, Indonesia’s non-oil and gas exports in January-March 2026 showed strong growth in several markets.
The highest export surge was recorded to Spain at 38.86%, followed by Egypt 25.43%, China 17.49%, Thailand 13.58%, and the Netherlands 11.37%.
Additionally, exports to non-traditional regions such as other Central Asia, North Africa, East Asia, other South America, and West Africa recorded positive performance.
In March 2026, Indonesia’s export performance was recorded at $22.53 billion, or a 1.62% growth compared to February 2026 on a monthly basis, although it still contracted 3.10% year-on-year.
The monthly export increase was driven by a surge in oil and gas exports of 18.60%, while non-oil and gas exports grew limitedly by 0.75%.
The rise in non-oil and gas exports was supported by significant increases in several major commodities, including metal ores, slag, and ash which jumped 8,055.36%, aluminium 112.99%, and precious metals and jewellery 98.89%.
Furthermore, growth was also supported by rising demand from major trading partners, particularly Hong Kong which grew 78.20%, Thailand 67.08%, and Taiwan 29.38% on a monthly basis.