“It means that our industry sector is still aggressively penetrating the international market amid this difficult time as an impact of the COVID-19 pandemic,” head of the Data and Information Center of the Industry Ministry, R Janu Suryanto, said here on Friday.
According to the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), Indonesia’s total exports in January-September, 2020 were valued at $117.19 billion, with the manufacturing industry accounting for 80.5 percent of the exports.
“The trade balance in the manufacturing industry in the period of January to September, 2020 showed a surplus of US$8.87 billion,” Suryanto informed.
The food industry recorded the highest exports of $21.31 billion, or up 10.5 percent, compared to the same period of 2019.
The basic metal industry was next with $16.96 billion in exports, or up 30.7 percent compared to the same period of last year; followed by chemical goods ($9 billion); textiles and garments ($8 billion); and, paper and paper goods ($5.16 billion).
“During January to September, 2020, some industry sectors have shown significant increase in exports compared to last year,” Suryanto remarked.
Among the sectors that recorded export growth of more than 10 percent are printing industry and recording media reproduction, which chalked up exports of $29.78 million, or up 27.8 percent; furniture $1.59 billion (up 15.2 percent); and pharmaceutical industry, chemical, and traditional drugs at $484.79 million (up 10.1 percent).
Exports of the manufacturing industry in September increased 7.3 percent (m-to-m) to $11.56 billion compared to the previous month's exports, which were recorded at $10.77 billion.
“Manufacturing industry trade balance in September had a surplus of $2.04 billion,” he added.
The industry’s exports in September also recorded a year-to-year increase of 6.6 percent.
“In September, 2020, China became the main export destination country for Indonesia's manufacturing industry, followed by the United States, Japan, Singapore, and India,” Suryanto noted. (INE)
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Translator: Sella PG, Sri Haryati
Editor: Suharto
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