April's Exports Down 2.2 Pct to $14.7 Bln

Jakarta (Antara) - Indonesia's exports in April fell 2.2 percent to US$14.7 billion from a month earlier as the prices of its several non-oil/non-gas exports have shown no signs of improvement, Trade Minister Gita Wirjawan said. The April 2013 exports consisted of oil/gas exports worth US$2.4 billion and non-oil/non-gas exports worth US$12.3 billion, he said here on Tuesday. The oil/gas exports plummeted 18.4 percent and the non-oil/non-gas exports rose 1.7 percent compared to March, he said. Compared to the same period last year, the country's exports in the first four months of this year fell 7.1 percent to US$60.1 billion, with oil/gas exports and non-oil/non-gas exports declining 22 percent and 3.1 percent respectively, he said. He said garment and footwear exports led the non-oil/non-gas export growth. "We see the export of value added products begin increasing." Meanwhile, Indonesia's imports in April rose 9.6 percent to US$16.3 billion compared to March, fueled by a 15.8 percent rise in non-oil/non-gas imports to US$12.7 billion. However, oil/gas imports dropped 7.8 percent to US$3.6 billion. Cumulatively, imports in the year to April reached US$62 billion consisting of non-oil/non-gas imports worth US$46.9 billion, down 2.3 percent and oil/gas imports worth US$15.1 billion, up 3.2 percent year-on-year. "The increase in oil/gas imports was caused by a 20.4 percent rise in crude oil demand," he said. The imports in the first four months of this year were still dominated by raw and auxiliary materials and capital goods which respectively accounted for 77 percent and 16.7 percent of the overall imports, he said. However, the import of consumer goods fell 12 percent year-on-year to US$3.9 billion. The import of raw and auxiliary materials rose 4.4 percent to US$47.7 billion, and the import of capital goods fell 17.7 percent to US$10.3 billion, or lower than the 2012 imports which climbed 36 percent. (*)