JAKARTA - The processing industry in the country is still able to show positive movement amid the pressure from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. This is reflected through the achievement of export values during the first quarter of 2020, to a surplus in the trade balance.
"The processing industry is under pressure from March 2020 due to Covid-19, but the processing industry export data gives optimism to stay afloat," Industry Minister Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita said on Tuesday (4/21).
The Minister of Industry revealed, the shipping performance of the national manufacturing sector in the first three months of this year increased by 10.11% compared to the same period last year (y-o-y). During the first quarter of 2020, exports from the processing industry exceeded USD32.99 billion, while the import value was recorded at around USD31.29 billion. So there was a surplus of USD 1.7 billion. In fact, exports of the manufacturing industry in the first quarter of 2020 contributed significantly to 78.96% of the total national exports which reached USD 41.78 billion.
Five sectors as the biggest contributors to the value of national manufacturing exports during the first three months of this year, namely the food industry which recorded USD7.17 billion, followed by the basic metals industry (USD5.48 billion), the chemical industry and chemical goods (USD2.99 billion), the apparel industry (USD2.02 billion), and the rubber industry, rubber and plastic goods (USD1.78 billion). (LM)