Indonesia’s trade surplus beats forecast in August on export recovery

JAKARTA :Indonesia’s trade surplus rose to a three-month high in August, topping forecasts, as exports grew much faster than expected, official data showed on Tuesday.
The August trade data is among economic indicators the central bank will analyse during its two-day policy meeting starting on Tuesday. Economists polled by Reuters ahead of the trade data expected Bank Indonesia to leave rates unchanged.
The world’s top exporter of thermal coal, palm oil and nickel metals reported a surplus of $2.89 billion last month, compared with $1.96 billion expected in a Reuters poll. The surplus was the biggest since May.
Exports in August grew 7.13 per cent on a yearly basis to $23.56 billion, Statistics Indonesia said. The median forecast was for a 3.83 per cent annual rise last month.
The pace of the August export rise was the quickest since January 2023, according to LSEG data.
Imports were worth $20.67 billion, up 9.46 per cent from a year earlier, compared with the poll’s expectation of an 8.15 per cent rise.
Shipments from the country have risen in annual terms each month since April, recovering after a year where export values fell sharply following the peak of a post-pandemic commodity price boom.  
Oil and gas shipments fell last month, but this was offset by an 8.7 per cent increase in exports of manufactured goods. Also boosting the August figures was a 9.7 per cent annual increase in coal shipments to $2.47 billion.
Imports of capital goods as well as raw and intermediary goods for further processing rose more than 11 per cent.