Indonesia's non-oil and gas exports up in first 10 months

Higher crude palm oil and rubber production has contributed to a 19 percent increase in Indonesia's non-oil and gas exports during the first 10 months of the year, the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) has said.

Non-oil and gas exports during the period rose to 54.5 billion US dollars from 45.9 billion US dollars in the corresponding period last year, the Jakarta Post on Friday quoted the BPS as saying.

Exports of rubber and rubber products as of October experienced the biggest increase of 14 percent to 2.8 billion US dollars compared to 2.4 billion US dollars last year, it added.

The surging global price of rubber and increasing demand, especially from rapidly growing China, have contributed to the increase in the value of Indonesia's exports of the commodity.

Meanwhile, exports of vegetable oil products, mainly crude palm oil and its derivatives, went up by 11 percent to 3.9 billion US dollars from 3.5 billion US dollars last year, also due to higher global demand despite declining world prices.

Supported by stronger global demand for electronic and mechanical goods, the exports of electronics as of October stood at 6.1 billion US dollars, up by 9 percent from 5.6 billion US dollars in the same period of the previous year.

Non-oil and gas exports during the January-October period accounted for almost 78 percent of Indonesia's total income from international trade.

Sales of oil and gas, meanwhile, rose 22.2 percent in the same period to 15.8 billion US dollars.

Indonesia's exports hit a record high last year, reaching 69.71 billion US dollars, up 11.49 percent from 2003. This was mainly attributed to strong sales of non-oil and gas commodities and manufactured goods, including palm oil, electronic goods, clothing, coal and tin.

However, the Ministry of Trade's research unit warned that the increase would probably be lower this year -- at between 13 percent and 14 percent -- due to a shift to on-line recording.

The country's trade balance recorded a surplus of 21.6 billion US dollars as of October this year, with imports standing at 48.6 billion US dollars.

The BPS also reported that January-October imports increased 29. 13 percent to 48.63 million US dollars from 37.66 million US dollars in the same period last year. Of this figure, oil and gas imports rose by 58.59 percent while non-oil and gas imports were up by 19.41 percent.

Source: Xinhua