Gayatri Sroyo and Fransiska Nagy

JAKARTA (Reuters – Indonesia’s Trade surplus decreased more than anticipated in December to $1.02Billion. It was the lowest level in 20 month due to a rise in commodities exports. Meanwhile, imports reached a new record high. Official data from Monday showed that.

Since May 2020, Southeast Asia’s biggest economy has reported a trade surplus each month. This is because of the coronavirus pandemic that slowed local demand, while commodities such as coal, oil palm, steel, and rubber saw a surge in export prices.

The December surplus was less than half of the $3.13billion forecast by Reuters economists and also smaller than the November surplus at $3.51billion.

December imports hit record levels of $21.36 trillion, an increase of 47.93% over a year and surpassing the poll’s projection of 39.40%. As overseas buyers of every type of consumer product to raw material for the manufacturing sector soared, so did the overall growth.

Margo Yuwono from Statistics Indonesia stated that this showed an increase in economic activity… and consumption.

Export growth was at 35.30% per year, compared with 40.40% predicted by the poll. Shipments of coal to China slowed as Beijing increased domestic fuel production.

After November’s $22.84 million, December’s December total shipment value was $22.38Billion. This is the second-highest monthly record of such resource-rich countries.

Economists warn that Indonesia could be in a trade deficit if it bans coal exports. This was implemented Jan. 1. Indonesia exports coal make up approximately 14%.

While the ban is now lifted for major miners who meet domestic sales requirements but it continues to affect smaller miners whose output can account for 40% or more of Indonesia’s total,

The total value of Indonesia’s 2021 exports was $231.54 trillion, with imports at $196.2 billion.

This was the largest trade surplus since 2007 with a total of $35.34 trillion.