January 2018, Raw Material Imports Increased

The value of imported raw materials increased at the beginning of this year. Data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) recorded that imports of raw/auxiliary materials throughout January 2018 increased by 2.34% to US$11.28 billion from the previous month. Meanwhile, imports of capital and consumer goods decreased.

These raw material imports contributed 74.58% to Indonesia's total non-oil and gas imports, valued at US$15.13 billion. However, the increase in raw material imports was not followed by an increase in non-oil and gas exports. For information, the value of Indonesia's non-oil and gas exports in the first month of this year actually fell by 1.45% to US$13.17 billion from the previous month.

The increase in import value was also triggered by a rise in the average aggregate price of imported goods. The average aggregate price of imported oil and gas goods in January 2018 increased by 7.24%, while that of non-oil and gas goods increased by 6.88% from the previous month. As a result, throughout January 2018, Indonesia's trade balance experienced a deficit of US$677 million.