hipments of key Indonesian commodities plummeted in January, and economists project worse to come as higher US import tariffs hit global trade.
Bank Danamon economist Hosianna Evalita Situmorang blamed “China’s [sluggish] recovery” for the nosedive of Indonesian exports of iron and steel as well as crude palm oil (CPO) and its derivatives.
Exports of commodities in those two categories, particularly to China and India, “could potentially worsen” once the effect of new import tariffs imposed in the United States kicks in, she told The Jakarta Post on Monday.
Interim Statistics Indonesia (BPS) head Amalia Adininggar Widyasanti revealed in a press conference on Monday that iron and steel exports saw “declines in volumes and prices”.
The country exported just US$2.12 billion worth of iron and steel in January, down 10.4 percent from December and down 7.6 percent year-on-year (yoy).
The volume of iron and steel exports dropped to 1.72 million tonnes from 1.89 million tonnes in December and 1.87 million tonnes in January of last year.
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Most of Indonesia’s iron and steel goes to China, but the volumes sent to the world’s second-largest economy in January marked a stark decline in both monthly and annual terms.