Indonesia's export forecast to down by 14 pct this year

Shipment of Indonesia's products to overseas is forecast to decrease by 14 percent to 151.61 billion U.S. dollars this year as weakening global economy saps demand of the country's products, a minister said here on Wednesday.

Indonesian Trade Minister Thomas Trikasih Lembong said that the estimate was made based on the trend of export in the last 9 months.

"The fact that export this year faces a steep decline," he said at the sidelines of a trade expo in Kemayoran.

Indonesia is the world's largest exporter of palm oil, thermal coal, and the world's third biggest exporter of rubber and cocoa, as well as home to the world's second-biggest copper mine.

On import, Mr. Lembong said that it is estimated to scale down by 17 percent to 147.89 billion U.S. dollars.

Weakening of rupiah against U.S. dollars failed to raise the country's export as most of the raw materials for manufactured products are imported, which consequantly raised the import cost.

Rupiah has plunged to the lowest since 1998 against the greenback, and it was traded at 13,696 on Wednesday, according to the central bank website.

The economy expanded to the lowest level in 6 years at the first half to 4.7 percent, according to the national statistic bureau.

For the whole of the year, the GDP growth is forecast to expand by 4.7 to 5.1 percent, according to the central bank. Enditem