N Sumatra Posts Lower Surplus In Trade With Japan

Medan, N Sumatra, Dec 26 (Antara) -North Sumatra reported a smaller surplus in trade with Japan down 37 percent year-on-year to around US$471.6 million in the first 10 months of the year. "The surplus shrank from US$747.62 million in the January-October period of 2013 as a result of the global crisis," head of the provincial office of the Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) Wien Kusdiatmono said here, Friday. "Exports from North Sumatra to Japan declined on weak demand," Wien said . Exports of rubber, tea, crude palm oil and marine commodities to that country fell , he said. In 2004, North Sumatra`s exports to Japan are estimated to reach only US$544.43 million with imports valued at US$72.83 million. "Despite the decline the surplus was still encouraging compared to deficits recorded in trade with other countries such as Malaysia, Thailand, Australia, Argentina and Singapore," he said. General chairman of the North Sumatra branch of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin), Ivan Iskandar Batubara, said there was significant improvement compared with in 2013, but trade had not fully recovered in 2014. "Surviving the turbulence year is reason to be thankful this year as we still fared better than many other countries in the world," Ivan said. Meanwhile, Wien said North Sumatra`s imports of steel also fell sharply by 32,66 percent on year in the first 10 months of the year on weak demand especially from the property sector. "In the January-October period of 2013, imports of steel materials were valued at US$240.66 million down to US$162.06 million in the same period in 2014. Demand for steel materials fell as many development projects remained idle notably in the first months of the year. "In October, there was an increase of 25.52 percent in imports compared to September but cumulative imports were still lower," Wien said. Steel materials are a major import commodity into North Sumatra, he said. Total imports of North Sumatra were valued at US$4.25 billion in the first 10 months of the year down 2.63 percent from imports worth US$4.36 billion in the same period last year. Tomi Wistan, a property developer , attributed the decline in demand for steel materials in the province to sluggish growth of the property sector. The sector is predicted to grow by less than 10 percent this year as against normal growth of 15-20 percent per year in the province, Tomi said. "Demand for property buildings is weak with falling buying power of the people," he said.