Indonesia Palm Oil exports seen down in September

Indonesian exports of Crude Palm Oil likely inched down in September from the month before, while output in the world's top producer of the commodity increased, according to a survey by Reuters.

Shipments of Crude Palm Oil (CPO) likely eased to 2.69 million tonnes in September from 2.71 million tonnes in August, the survey showed.

The drop in shipments came after key buyer India in mid-August doubled import duty on the vegetable oil to 15 percent, Indonesia's Vegetable Oil Association (GIMNI) said.

Production was expected to have increased to 3.63 million tonnes from 3.59 million tonnes a month earlier. Meanwhile, local consumption in the Southeast Asian nation likely climbed to 915,000 tonnes in September from 890,000 tonnes in August, according to the survey median.

Domestic stockpiles likely dropped to 2.4 million tonnes from 2.6 million the previous month. Indonesian Palm Oil Association (GAPKI) data showed the country exported 2.98 million tonnes of palm oil and palm kernel oil in August.

exports of Crude Palm Oil

Malaysia to continue to import rice

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia will continue to depend on rice imports as the country’s production of the grain is nearly 30% short from the three million metric tonnes (MT) self sufficiency level (SSL). Agriculture and Agrobased Industry Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek said the industry is expected to narrow the SSL gap from 72% presently to 80%, but the country will remain dependent on other countries for its rice supplies. He said the industry has to cope with the rising population and demands, ageing farmers, pest attacks and harvesting process inefficiencies. “We do have enough facilities, but very often a lot of the crop is lost after the harvesting process. Sometimes due to pests, sometimes due to carelessness, and sometimes due to complications during the processes after harvesting the crop. “It cannot be avoided entirely and that is why we are doing what we can to ensure the farmers are informed on how they can reduce crop wastage,” he said at the National Paddy Conference in Petaling Jaya yesterday. Based on the three million MT SSL, a household on average consume about 100kg of rice annually. There are about 674,548ha of area planted with the world’s second most important crop. Malaysia was the world’s 14 biggest rice importer based on value at US$377.4 million (RM1.59 billion) or 2% of global imports in 2016.China was the world’s largest rice importer valued at US$1.6 billion. The world’s most populous nation’s rice imports had risen 40.9%. India was the largest exporter of the grain valued at US$5.3 billion or 26.7% of total rice exports, followed by Thailand at US$4.4 billion (21.9%) and the US at US$1.9 billion (9.6%). Ahmad Shabery said that 80% of rice production is sufficient for the country’s population. “This is because 15% to 20% of the 31.19 million population does not consume rice or only prefer certain kinds of rice, which are not available in locally,” he said, adding that no one country produced all the different rice types. He also launched a standard operating procedure by The Malaysian Agr iculture Research and Development Institute to aid farmers to reduce loss after harvesting rice. He said Malaysia does not intend to become a net rice exporter. “First, it is the price. Are we able to offer competitive prices that meet the retail markets worldwide? “Secondly, we must look at the subsidy. Once we begin to export with the subsidy, the more we export, the more we lose. Exporting will do more harm than good,” he said.

spices export rises 35% in first quarter

KOCHI: Helped by large shipments of chilli, spices exports from India grew 35 per cent in quantitative terms in the first quarter of fiscal 2017–18.

The total export of spices rose to 3,06,990 tonnes in terms of quantity during the period from 2,27, 938 tonnes a year ago.
Chilli became the most exported spice during April–June 2017 with the shipment of 1,33,000 tonnes. “Chilli has been the most demanded Indian spice and has fulfilled the increasing international demand for quality spices in global markets. Moreover, Board’s efforts to promote garlic have resulted in substantial increase in its exports,” said Spices Board chairman A Jayathilak.
Garlic has registered the maximum growth in terms of quantity and value. It contributed substantially to the overall exports during the period, rising 169 per cent in quantity. Fennel registered a growth of 92 per cent in quantity. The exports of other seed spices such as mustard, aniseed and dill seed grew by 83 per cent in quantity.
Increased demand for processed and value added spices resulted in an increase in the exports of curry powder and pastes, along with spice oils and oleoresins, accounting for a significant part in the spices export basket of the first quarter of the current fiscal, said a Spices Board release.

Indian Spices Exports

Pulses export policy change totake time to fructify

A year after Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian pressed for lifting ban on export of pulses, the government ended the 10-year-old ban on September 18. This comes in conjunction with the import restriction on tur dal (pigeon pea) to 0.2 million tonnes, and on urad dal (split black gram) and moong dal (split green gram) together to 0.3 million tonnes for 2017-18.

Pulses have thus come a long way — from banned exports and free imports for the past 10 years to free exports limited to three dals and restricted imports with a 10 per cent tax as of today. But, prior to banned exports, India exported a variety of pulses, including urad, moong, masur (lentils), tur and chickpeas (chana). Just after the year 2016-17 that saw the highest availability of pulses — close to 30 million tonnes (mt), including 6.6 mt of imports — India is ready to export them again. Considering the consumption of pulses in India at 22 mt, about eight mt is possibly stocked.

The first few export registrations totaling 200 tonnes have been received by the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (Apeda) in the first 10 days. With renewed exports, here is an attempt to throw light on questions that need urgent attention.

Price insulation from international market
Due to an export ban, the pulses market in India was characterized mostly by consumption catered to by a combination of production and imports. “Pulses prices in India were a product of domestic demand and supply, and were insulated from the international market,” A K Gupta, director at Apeda, told Business Standard. But still, as India is the biggest producer and consumer of pulses in the world, international prices have always trended along with Indian pulses prices.
While the prices in India floated below international prices till the end of 2015, the drought impact of 2015 that severely reduced production inflated domestic pulses prices. Since then, Indian prices have remained above the international
In India, fluctuating tur dal prices followed the ‘cobweb model’. As a response to drought, reduced productivity and thus production, prices of tur dal doubled in 2015, which prompted farmers to sow more tur (and other pulses, too) in the next year, 2016. Sowing of tur increased 50 per cent in September 2016 over September 2015, which resulted in record production of 4.8 mt of tur dal. In the following year, from September 2016 to September 2017, the wholesale price of tur (unprocessed unsplit beans) at Gulbarga mandi, Karnataka, dropped 33 per cent from Rs 7,000 a quintal to Rs 4,500 a quintal, while the price of ready-to-cook tur dal in Mumbai, one of India’s biggest consumer mandis, dropped 34 per cent from Rs 115 a kg to Rs 75 a kg.Whereas the wholesale price of tur dal available on top global online marketplace alibaba.com ranges from $250-$400 a tonne, or Rs 16-26 a kg. International market agencies cite similar lower-than-Indian-dal prices: India Infoline data pegs moong from Tanzania at Rs 4,100 a quintal; marketonmobile pegs tur from Malawi at Rs 3,300 a quintal.

The average price of tur dal imported in India — which can be taken as representative of international price — during April-June 2017 was Rs 40 a kg, half the price of Rs 82 a kg in April-June 2016.

Lentil and peas production in Canada has improved, and record exports have been registered, according to some sources. India will not import from Myanmar this season (2017-18) since imports are capped and taxed, making Burmese pulses available cheaper in the international market. African pulses production has increased 10 per cent, resulting in an international pulses supply glut.  Thus, though farmers are getting a remuneration below the minimum support price (MSP) benchmark, the Indian dal price (at least in the case of tur) is still less competitive for exports. But, all hope is not lost, according to representatives of the pulses value chain. “This is a studied decision by the government which will make price discovery naturally evolved and transparent. Though immediate wonders are not expected, export value chains would potentially be established in about six months, since Indian pulses command a premium owing to their quality,” Pravin Dongre, chairman at the India Pulses and Grains Association, told Business Standard.

Pulses exports imports 

Oil slips after entering bull on kurdish export threat

LONDON (Bloomberg) -- Oil prices slipped after entering a bull market amid heightened geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, while Trafigura Group and Citigroup Inc. both warned of a looming supply squeeze.

Crude in New York fell 0.7% as traders cashed in after yesterday’s 3.1% surge. The oil market is nearing the end of the “lower-for-longer” era, with a shortage likely in 2019, trading house Trafigura said Tuesday. In Turkey, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened to “close the valves” on oil shipments from Kurdistan after the Iraqi region held a vote on independence.

Oil has gained almost 10% this month on forecasts for rising consumption and as members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries maintain output cuts to drain a global glut. The market rebalancing has helped flip the futures curve into backwardation, a structure where immediate deliveries of oil are more expensive than longer-dated ones, signaling strong demand. Brent prices jumped to a two-year high on Monday before retreating Tuesday.

“It’s pure profit-taking,” Torbjorn Kjus, an oil-market analyst at DNB Bank ASA in Oslo, said by phone. “It’s very natural. The most natural thing would be if we lose some more during the day, but so far it’s holding up almost unexpectedly well after that very large rally yesterday.”

West Texas Intermediate for November delivery was at $51.86/bbl on the New York Mercantile Exchange, down 36 cents, at 8:46 a.m. local time. Total volume traded was 31% above the 100-day average. Prices surged to $52.22 on Monday, more than 20% above their most recent low -- a definition of a bull market.

Brent for November settlement dropped 75 cents to $58.27/bbl on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange after rising as much as 0.8% earlier. Prices advanced $2.16 to $59.02 on Monday, the highest close since July 2015. The global benchmark traded at a premium of $6.41 to WTI on Tuesday.

The effect of OPEC’s curbs could be amplified if the vote in the Iraqi enclave of Kurdistan provokes a political crisis, threatening more than 500,000 bpd of shipments to global markets. Ankara opposes an independent Kurdish state and has economic leverage because the export pipeline runs through Turkey to the Mediterranean. Oil from fields controlled by the Kurdish Regional Government and the federal Iraqi government’s North Oil Co. was flowing normally through the pipeline on Monday, according to two people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified discussing confidential information.

600 kg gold imports from Indonesia; govt mulling curbs

New Delhi, Sep 18 () Worried over a surge in gold imports from Indonesia that crossed 600 kg in the last two months, the government is considering ways to check the increase in the in-bound shipments, a government official said.
A decision to this effect is expected this week only, the official added.
The government has recently imposed restrictions on imports of the precious metal from South Korea on account of jump in gold imports from that country.
Because of this, the official said, the in-bound shipments are now increasing from Indonesia.
The imports in the case of Indonesia are different from those of Korea as the gold coming from the South-east Asian island nation is mostly mined gold whereas from South Korea, it was originating in some other country and was being routed through Korea for value addition prior to exports.
"Over 600 kg of gold came in from Indonesia in the last two months. We are looking into it and a decision is likely by the end of the week," the official said.
Importers have been taking advantage of the free trade agreement between India and the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean) with which a free trade agreement is in place since 2009. Under this pact, the basic Customs duty on gold is nil.
Indonesia is a member of the 10-nation Asean group.
Following the rollout of Good and Services Tax (GST), a 3 per cent Integrated GST (IGST) is being levied on gold imports. This compares to the earlier 12.5 per cent countervailing duty imposed prior to July 1, thereby making imports cheaper.
Officials from Customs, Commerce and the Reserve Bank would meet this week to decide on what could be the possible way to deal with this import surge.

India still highly dependent on edible oil imports: ICRA

Despite steady improvement in oilseeds production, India has to go long way as import dependence for edible oils remain high, feels ICRABSE -1.83 %.

In a report released on Monday, ICRA said that over the years, the agriculture sector in India has made considerable progress in increasing the yields and hence production, particularly in respect of food crops such as wheat and rice. However, in case of oilseeds, the performance has not been equally creditable.
According to ICRA, India occupies a prominent position in the world oilseeds industry with contribution of around 10% in worldwide production. But the demand of edible oils (extracted from oilseeds in addition to palm oil) is significantly higher than the domestic production, leading to dependence on imports (60% of requirement). In FY2016 India’s total edible oil demand stood at 24 mn tonnes out of which 9 mn tonnes was met from domestic production and 15 mn tonnes met from imports. The latter valued at around Rs. 65,000 crore, constituted around 2.5% of India’s total import bill.
Says Sachin Sachdeva, Associate Head & AVP – Corporate Ratings, ICRA, “Over the last ten years, the oilseeds production in the country has increased to around 34 mn tonnes in FY2017 from 24 mn tonnes in FY2007. Considering the importance of oilseeds, and the high level of imports, various oilseeds development schemes have been funded by the government to encourage cultivation of oilseeds and palm. There has been some progress in increasing the area under cultivation and improving yields, but the growth has been slow. Average yield of various oilseeds crops in India, though improved, is lower than world average and significantly lower than other major oilseeds producing nations.” As area under oilseeds has been almost stagnant during the last decade, there is little scope for extension of area given the competing demands. Thus yield rates need to be stepped up significantly in order to increase the production of oilseeds.

The government is currently running ‘National Mission on Oilseeds and Oil Palm (NMOOP)’ to encourage the adoption of newly released varieties and improved agro-techniques in oilseed crops. The mission targets increasing production of oilseeds to 42 mn tonnes by FY2022 from estimated 34 mn tonnes in FY2017. ICRA estimates that this can help lower the proportion of imports in total edible oil consumption in the country to around 55% in FY2022 from around 60% in FY2017, translating into saving of around Rs. 6,500 crore of foreign exchange.

The key constraints limiting the growth in production of oilseeds include lack of suitable varieties, high-costs of cultivation, lack of timely availability of inputs, and low & fluctuating prices. As the majority of the area under oilseeds cultivation is still rain fed (around 75%), there is significant impact of vagaries of monsoon on the overall productivity of oilseeds crops.
Mr. Sachdeva concludes: “The key to improve oilseeds production lies in ensuring the availability of quality seeds, bridging the awareness gap in farmers regarding better techniques, developing supportive infrastructure facilities and ensuring an efficiently managed market for better price recovery.
New location-specific high yielding varieties should be developed. Investment in oilseeds research and development is a key element and should be stepped up. Dissemination of technology is equally important and needs to be strengthened through effective agricultural extension system”.

oilseeds Import India

oilseeds Export Import

Indonesia Iron Ore Imports Static in April 2017

Indonesian import statistics showed that the countrys iron ore imports were 508,000 tons in April of this year, remained flat compared with the same period last year; while the average import price was ta US$87.10/ton, up by 89% compared with the same period of last year.
During January-April of this year. Indonesias iron ore imports totaled around 1.66 million tons, increased by 0.6% compared with the same period of last year. Meanwhile, Indonesias iron ore is mainly imported by 2 state-owned miners such as Krakatau Steel and Krakatau Posco.

Indonesia iron ore imports

Turkey Exports Ice cream to 68 coutries

Turkey has been exporting ice cream to a total of 68 countries and four free zones, gaining nearly $204 million in the past 5.5 years.
According to data from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) and the United Nations, nearly 88.4 thousand tons of ice cream were exported in the aforementioned time period, with Iraq, Kosovo, Albania, Northern Cyprus, the United Arab Emirates and Azerbaijan topping the list.

Being the world’s 15th top ice cream and iced food product exporter, Turkey sold 88,366 tons of ice cream to 68 countries and four free zones between January 2012 and June 2017.

Considering that one scoop of ice cream corresponds to 50 grams, the exported ice cream in the past 5.5 years adds up to more than 1.7 billion scoops.

ice cream exports

Some $36.3 million were earned from ice cream exports in 2012, $38.3 million in 2013, $35.3 million in 2014, $36.4 million in 2015, $34.8 million in 2016 and $22.4 million in the first half of this year.The export value of ice cream sold abroad was calculated as $2.3 per kilogram. Iraq topped the list of exports with over 18.3 tons of ice cream sold for $48 million in the past 5.5 years.

Kosovo followed with $16.6 million, Albania with $12.8 million, Northern Cyprus with $9.3 million, the United Arab Emirates with $7.6 million and Azerbaijan with $5 million.
Countries thousands of kilometers away from Turkey are among the Turkish ice cream producers’ export markets, including the United States, Australia, Brazil, China, Indonesia, South Africa, India, Canada, Pakistan, Senegal and Chile. 

Packaged Milk and Dairy Products Association (ASÜD) General Secretary Burhan Sakkaoğlu said that countries in the Middle East, Balkans, Caucasus, Turkic Republics and Northern Africa stand out among the sector’s export markets.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Sakkaoğlu said they have certain expectations from the state in order to strengthen their stance in foreign markets, adding that a plan to get rid of animal diseases must be formed in priority.

“The European Union allows the exports of dairy products and ice cream produced with milk that are obtained from certified milk businesses. That’s why, the number of certified milk businesses that produce EU standards need to be increased with efforts aimed at increasing quality in milk production,” Sakkaoğlu said.

He also said that market activities regarding the Middle East, Far East and Northern Africa, which are significant markets for ice cream exporters, must be developed, adding that emphasis should be laid on the promotion of types of boutique and local ice cream in foreign countries.

“The volume of the ice cream market is 16.6 billion liters worldwide. Turkey, along with Indonesia, Vietnam and India, are among the markets developing the most in terms of ice cream,” he said.

Import impasse blamed for high prices of salt

Now a sack having 75 kg salt is selling at Tk1,100-1,200 at the mill gate in Chittagong

An inability to process lighter cargoes at Chittagong port is being blamed by traders for their failure to import unrefined salt since the government took action to stabilise the market following Cyclone Mora and flash floods last month.
On July 5, the government in a statutory regulatory order allowed authorised importers to bring in 500,000 tonnes of salt from abroad after the natural disasters hit local production.
According to Commerce Ministry officials, however, a total of 232 importers who were given permission to import salt have failed to bring in any shipment in that time.
Some of the importers have already informed the ministry that importing has been beset by uncertainty because they have not been able to hire the lighter vessels needed to unload the imported salt when a mother vessel is held at the outer anchorage of Chittagong port.
“There has long been a crisis of lighter cargoes at Chittagong port,” Chittagong Salt Mill Owners’ Association President Nurul Kabir said.
In addition, port sources said at least 15-20 days would be needed for the shipment of unrefined salt imports from India to arrive at the port and another 20 days to complete the various processes at the port.
While accepting that the lack of lighter vessels had been one of the reasons for the supply shortage of salt in the local market, Commerce Secretary Shubhasish Basu said the problem had recently been solved.
Prices remain high, however: a 75 kg sack of salt is selling at Tk1,100-1,200 at the mill gate in Chittagong – a rise of 10% from just two weeks ago. Last year, the price stood below the Tk500 mark.
High prices at the mill gate have already led to the increase of retail prices. Now unpacked refined salt is selling at Tk25 a kg, whereas the rate was Tk18-19 just a week ago.
“The government will take stern action against the unscrupulous salt traders if they increase the prices abnormally ahead of the Eid,” the commerce secretary told the Dhaka Tribune.
The Bangladesh Tanners Association (BTA) has also been protesting the salt price inflation.
Usually, a total of 30,000 tonnes salt is needed to process the raw hide that is expected to be collected from across the country during Eid-ul-Azha.
But in a press conference in Dhaka on August 19, the BTA alleged that some unscrupulous businesspeople had increased the prices of salt creating an artificial crisis in the market ahead of the Eid-ul Azha.

Basmati rice becomes India’s top exporting commodity

Basmati rice has again become the top commodity to be exported from India. The popular variety of rice overcame the exports of buffalo meat to take the position of the top most exporting commodity in the April-June quarter of 2017-18. For years, Basmati rice had been the major export commodity of the country. However, since 2014-15, buffalo meat had too over the former’s position. According to reports, the reason was that all new orders were suspended earlier by Iran, which consumes more than a fourth of India’s exports Basmati rice to the world. During its harvesting season, Iran generally suspends rice import orders. According to reports, this year Iranian traders have continued to import Basmati rice even in the harvesting season. Basmati rice exports increased to 1.26 million tonnes in the said quarter from 1.18 million tonnes in the same period a year ago.  The average realisation of Basmati surged 28% to $1,009 per tonne this year compared to $787 per tonne last year. Basmati rice exports from India increased to Rs.8,168 crore during the April-June period as compared to Rs.6,196 crore in the same quarter last year, as per the estimates by Agricultural & Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA). The other factor for Basmati rice taking the top position in the country’s exports is the drop in the buffalo meat exports. Buffalo meat exports declined to 279,409 tonnes in the quarter of April-June this year from 280,869 tonnes in the same quarter last year. Despite the drop in exports, the revenue from buffalo meat exports increased marginally to $849 million (Rs.5,473 crore) in the April-June quarter from $823 million (Rs.5,445 crore) in the corresponding period last year.

Exporters of buffalo meat faced supply issues when the Government banned the sales of animal, on which the Supreme Court put stay after a few weeks.

Basmati rice exports from India

Indonesia Export Data

Indonesia's exports were recorded at USD $13.17 billion in April 2017.Most of Indonesia's April 2017 non-oil & gas exports were shipped to China (USD $1.57 billion), followed by the USA (USD $1.36 billion), the European Union (also USD $1.36 billion), and India (USD $1.19 billion).
The top exports of Indonesia are Coal Briquettes ($14B), Palm Oil ($12.3B), Petroleum Gas ($9.5B), Crude Petroleum ($5.93B) and Rubber ($4.2B), using the 1992 revision of the HS (Harmonized System) classification. Its top imports are Refined Petroleum ($13B), Broadcasting Equipment ($2.77B), Vehicle Parts ($2.68B), Crude Petroleum ($2.48B) and Telephones ($2.35B).

The top export destinations of Indonesia are the United States , China , Japan , Singapore and India .

Indonesia export products are Mineral fuels including oil,Animal/vegetable fats, oils, waxes,Electrical machinery, equipment,Gems, precious metals,Vehicles,Rubber,Machinery including computers,Clothing, accessories,Wood.

Vietnam eats into India's cashew export plans

KOCHI: Vietnam may spoil India’s plans to raise its cashew exports as it has cornered a large share of raw nuts from West Africa for processing.

India's cashew export has been falling in the last two years. From 1.2 lakh tonnes in 2014-15, it plummeted to 82,302 tonnes last year.


Zooming price of imported raw nuts and dip in export prices have made export unviable for India. India imports over 60% of its raw nut requirement for processing. "Vietnam has been buying raw nuts from West Africa at a higher price to meet its export requirement. As a result the raw nut price has escalated to $2450 per tonne," said P Sundaran, chairman of Cashew Export Promotion Council of India. India’s export had looked good in the first two months of the fiscal.

As its processing cost is lower, Vietnam has been selling below India’s rate. "The US and Europe have started buying from Vietnam as its cashew is cheaper though our cashew is superior in quality. We need support from the government through incentives for export," Sundaran said.

Aggressive selling by Vietnam has pushed down the cashew prices in the export market. It has tumbled from over $ 5 per pound to $4.8. "Vietnam has targeted an export of 3.65 lakh tonnes for which it has been buying and stocking raw nuts till September-October," said K Prakash Rao, managing partner of Kalbavi Cashews.

India is hoping to buy more raw cashew of better quality from Indonesia and East Africa, where the harvest season is expected to be a month earlier by August-September. "The Indian production is better than last year which may meet the needs of local manufacturers," Rao said.

Indian cashew industry is gearing up for good domestic season with the onset of festival season from August. `` Post GST the stock of most traders is empty and hence they are likely to buy to raise inventory. At present the price in the local market is around Rs 810 per kg compared with Rs 725 per kg in the export market. The prices may rise further when the festival season begins,’’ Rao said.

India is currently the largest consumer of cashews with consumption touching 3 lakh tonnes, two times the export. The consumption is growing at a rate of 5% annually. 

Indonesian Steel Producers Urge Gov't to Monitor Imports

Indonesian steel importers can enjoy free import duties on alloy steel. However, many of these importers are actually importing carbon steel (that have a very low alloy content). Therefore, this import policy of the government is not tight enough. Currently, the government is studying the issue.

Indonesia and other ASEAN countries have become major export markets for Chinese steel. China, the world's largest steel producer, is plagued by a major steel oversupply and therefore is in a position to - competitively - export steel to ASEAN nations.


Although steel imports into Indonesia declined in June 2017, Triseputro replied that declining steel imports is a normal phenomenon during the Ramadan month ahead of the Idul Fitri festivities. Based on data from Indonesia's Statistics Agency (BPS), Indonesia imported USD $450.4 million worth of steel in June 2017 (in terms of volume this is equivalent to 735,528 tons), down nearly 25 percent (y/y) from steel imports in the same month one year ago. However, these data are distorted because the Ramadan and Idul Fitri started earlier this year.

If we take a look at steel imports in the January-June 2017 period, then we detect a 19.8 percent (y/y) increase to USD $3.52 billion (or 6.65 million tons) worth of steel that was imported into Indonesia.

The World Steel Association recently said China has been boosting its steel output in the first half of 2017. China's steel production rose 3.9 percent (y/y) to 419.7 million tons in the January-June 2017 period. This puts more pressure on steel prices

Indonesia's Export & Import trade Performance in April

Indonesia's exports were recorded at USD $13.17 billion in April 2017, down 10.3 percent month-on-month (m/m) compared to March, but up 12.6 percent year-on year (y/y) compared to April 2016.

On a monthly basis, Indonesia's export performance fell due to falling non-oil & gas exports (specifically a steep decline in animal fat and oil exports), while crude oil exports fell a whopping 50.7 percent (m/m) to USD $302.5 million, and gas fell 18.1 percent (m/m) to USD $587.2 million. But also in terms of volume exports of crude oil and gas fell: 43.7 percent (m/m) and 24.3 percent (m/m), respectively.

Indonesia's non-oil & gas exports in April declined 7.4 percent (m/m) to USD $12.19 billion. However, the figure is a 12.9 percent (y/y) improvement compared to non-oil & gas exports in the same month one year earlier.

Combined, in the first four months of 2017, Indonesia exported a total of USD  $53.9 billion of goods, up 18.6 percent compared to USD $48.90 billion in the same period one year earlier, driven by a 19.1 percent (y/y) recovery in non-oil & gas exports.

Most of Indonesia's April 2017 non-oil & gas exports were shipped to China (USD $1.57 billion), followed by the USA (USD $1.36 billion), the European Union (also USD $1.36 billion), and India (USD $1.19 billion).

Meanwhile, imports into Indonesia rose 10.3 percent (y/y) to USD $11.93 billion in April 2017, but fell 10.2 percent (y/y) on a monthly basis. Non-oil & gas imports stood at USD $10.32 billion, down 6.3 percent (m/m) but up 9.2 percent (y/y) compared to the same month one year earlier. Imports of consumer goods grew nearly 26 percent (y/y) but increases in imports of capital goods and raw materials were smaller.

Lastly, imports of oil & gas into Indonesia fell 29.3 percent (m/m) to USD $1.61 billion in April but rose 18.3 percent (y/y).

Indonesia's export reaches $11.64 billion in June

Export of products from Indonesia was recorded at $11.64 billion in June, the national statistics bureau announced.

That compares with 12.92 billion shipment of the products overseas in June of last year.
The cumulative exports by June grew 14.04 percent to $79.96 billion from a year earlier, head of the bureau Kecuk Suhariyanto told a press conference at the bureau headquarters.

Experts have said that a seasonal factor of shorter working day and a trend of lower commodities' prices have contributed to the decline of shipment of Indonesia's products overseas in June.

Indonesia is the world's biggest exporter of thermal coal, crude palm oil, and the world's third largest exporter of cocoa and rubber, as well as home to the world's second-biggest copper mine.

On import, it reached $10.01 billion in June compared with $12.02 billion in the same period last year, Suhariyanto disclosed.

Cumulative imports by June were down 9.60 percent to $72.33 billion from a year ago, he revealed.

Indonesia's trade performance witnessed a $1.63-billion-U.S. dollar surplus in June, Suhariyanto said. ■

Indonesia Export Import Data and Trade Report

Products Indonesia exported the most in 2015 are: 


List of 10 Largest Indonesia Exports of 2015: Mineral Fuels, Oils, Distillation Products, etc. (23.01%); Animal, Vegetable Fats and Oils, Cleavage Products, etc. (12.42%); Electrical, Electronic Equipment (5.7%); Rubber and Articles (3.93%); Pearls, Precious Stones, Metals, Coins, etc. (3.66%); Vehicles Other Than Railway, Tramway (3.61%); Machinery, Nuclear Reactors, Boilers, etc. (3.47%), Footwear, Gaiters and the Like, Parts (3%); Wood and Articles (2.66%) and Articles of Apparel, Accessories, Not Knit or Crochet (2.65%).


List of 10 Largest Importer Countries to which Indonesia Exported Products the Most in 2015: Japan (12%); United States of America (10.8%); China (10%); Singapore (8.4%); India (7.8%); Republic of Korea (5.1%); Malaysia (5.1%); Thailand (3.7%); Taipei, Chinese (3.4%) and Philippines (2.6%).

Indonesia Export Import Data