In the first five months of 2020, Indonesia recorded trade surplus of US$668 million from iron & steel. This is a major shift because for many decades the country suffered huge amount of deficit in iron & steel. Aggressive investments in the industry by Chinese companies contributed to the shifting. We can expect more from the industry going forward because of completion of some nickel-to-steel factories in Sulawesi.

Tired of Covid-19 news? Well, try to ‘visit’ Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park (IMIP) in Central Sulawesi. Lots of actions over there during the pandemic. ASX-listed Nickel Mines Ltd, for example, managed to raise A$211 million from the issuance of new shares to acquire additional 20% shares in two nickel processing companies located in IMIP.

The capital city Jakarta will resume operation of office and restaurants (exclusive of those in the malls) whilst at 50% capacity by Monday (Jun 8). This will be followed by reopening of shopping malls one week later. The mass-rapid transit (MRT) is set to return to normal operation today, while Tanah Abang, the largest textile and garment wholesale market in Southeast Asia, should open soon.

Hand sanitizer is now a must have. Demand skyrockets. It’s good for ethanol producers. One of them, PT Indo Acidatama Tbk (SRSN) admitted to Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) that it is positively affected by higher demand for ethanol, main raw material for hand sanitizers. Wonder whether domestic sugar planters would boost ethanol production going forward.

State-owned construction firm Wijaya Karya (WIKA), which develops some toll roads, said on Thursday that out of 208 projects, 13% of them were suspended, while 23% others were in slowdown mode related to physical distancing measures. The company, however, increased its workforce from 3,592 in December 2019 to 4,154 by the end of April 2020.

Consumer goods players performed well in the first quarter of 2020. Pharmaceutical company PT Kalbe Farma Tbk (KLBF), for example, generated sales revenues of Rp5.8 trillion in the quarter, an increase of 8% from the corresponding period last year amidst economic slowdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

First quarter of 2020 was not too bad for Indonesia in some economic sectors. Some of them might remain strong in the second quarter due to disruption of operations in some countries related to Covid-19 measures.