Industries

Indonesia booked trade surplus of US$4.37 billion in September 2021, down 8% from August but jumped 83.2% year-on-year. In the first nine months of 2021, trade surplus reached a new record of US$25.07 billion, jumped nearly by 88% from the corresponding period last year thanks to 40.4% increase in export revenues. 

Indonesian customers’ interest in electric cars surprised Hyundai, which builds the first electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing facility in the country. Chief Operating Officer of PT Hyundai Motors Indonesia, Makmur, said the company has taken orders for 600 units, consisted of Kona Electric (60%) and Ioniq (40%). The estimated on the road (OTR) price of Kona Electric (SUV) and Ioniq (sedan) is Rp600 million (around US$42,000).

President Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo has on Thursday (Oct 14) inaugurated commercial operation of Wae Kelambu port in Komodo sub-district, West Manggarai, Flores Island, which is the first logistic port in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) province. The multipurpose terminal, located 10-12 KM from the existing port in Labuan Bajo, means the existing port will only serve passenger ships, including cruises and yachts.

Changing paradigm in modernization of weaponry system based on instruction from President Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo should see more investments by global defense contractors and partnerships with Indonesian defense industry going forward.

After decades of talk and talk, PT Freeport Indonesia, now majority owned by the State, has finally kicked off physical construction of a new copper smelter in Gresik, East Java province. President Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo himself officially launched the project this morning (Oct 12) to end years of speculation about location for the new smelter.

Babcock (United Kingdom), Fincantieri-Leonardo (Italy), Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (Japan), Naval Group (France), MTG Marinetechnik (Germany) and FIGES AS (Turkey), are among global defense contractors expecting to get contracts from ministry of defense to ‘modernize’ weaponry system of Indonesian Navy.

In the past few weeks, we read more promising news from the US about electric vehicle (EV). As the world’s largest automobile market, US (3% of total car sold) has been lagging behind China (12%) and Europe (20%) in EV market. General Motors and Ford, two of the world’s largest automakers, however, have recently shown their strong desire to takeover the market lead from Tesla.

Indonesia’s manufacturing industry gains traction during the Covid-19 pandemic with commercial operation of new factories for export market and new investments in metal processing, petrochemicals, new energy, and EV battery. In early July, Indonesia added export of smelter grade alumina (SGA) from PT Bintan Alumina Indonesia, a joint venture between investors from China, Malaysia, and Indonesia.

After years of intense lobby, PT HKML Baterai Indonesia, a joint venture between Hyundai Motor and LG Energy Solution, has finally kicked off construction of an electric vehicle (EV) battery in Karawang, West Java province with estimated investment of US$1.1 billion. The importance of the event can be seen in the attendance of President Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo, chairman of Hyundai Motor, and CEO of LG Energy Solution in the ground breaking ceremony.

Indonesia booked trade surplus of US$4.74 billion in August 2021, a new record, thanks to 64% jump in export, while import grew 55.3% year-on-year. The country, accordingly, generated trade surplus of US$19.17 billion in the first eight months, the highest in Indonesian history. Overall, export expanded by 37.8% to US$142 billion in the period, while import increased by 33.4% to US$122.8 billion.