Business

Indonesian exports surge in April on high commodity prices

Indonesia's exports racked up their strongest rise in 11 years in April, boosted by surging prices of key commodities such as palm oil and coal, data from the statistics bureau showed on Thursday as they beat analysts' expectations.

Shipping containers are moved and counted at Tanjung Priok port in North Jakarta, Indonesia
FILE PHOTO: Shipping containers are moved and counted at Tanjung Priok port in North Jakarta, Indonesia December 15, 2015. REUTERS/Darren Whiteside

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JAKARTA: Indonesia's exports racked up their strongest rise in 11 years in April, boosted by surging prices of key commodities such as palm oil and coal, data from the statistics bureau showed on Thursday as they beat analysts' expectations.

The resource-rich nation's shipments rose 51.94per cent on a yearly basis to US$18.48 billion, for their sharpest increase since 2010, outperforming a figure of 41per cent forecast in a Reuters poll.

Imports rose 29.93per cent on the year, compared with 29.81per cent in the poll, to US$16.29 billion.

The April trade surplus was US$2.19 billion, up from the previous month's surplus of US$1.56 billion and the poll's expectation of US$1 billion.

(Reporting by Gayatri Suroyo and Fransiska Nangoy; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

Source: Reuters