The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) of North Sumatra has announced that the trade balance of North Sumatra recorded a surplus of USD 542.23 million in February 2023. "This value is greater than January 2023, which was USD 327.826 million," said Head of BPS North Sumatra Province Nurul Hasanudin during a virtual presentation followed in Medan on Monday.
The largest surplus in North Sumatra was recorded in trade with China (surplus of USD 100 million), the United States (USD 72 million), and India (USD 41 million). Meanwhile, deficits occurred in trading with Singapore (deficit of USD 51 million), Malaysia (USD 27 million), and Thailand (USD 12 million). Nurul continued that the surplus was achieved after North Sumatra as a whole recorded export value of USD 918.41 million and imports of USD 376.8 million throughout February 2023. He said that the value of North Sumatra's exports increased compared to the previous month. In January 2023, it was USD 814.161 million. Meanwhile, compared to February 2022, the value of February 2023 exports increased by 3.73%.
The dominant exported goods from North Sumatra were animal and vegetable fats and oils, which traded up to USD 422.92 million or 46.05% of the total export value. In addition, North Sumatra's chemical products were also in demand by international consumers, with a trade value of USD 107.63 million (11.71 % of exports). Three countries that became North Sumatra's export primadonnas were China (19.8% with a value of USD 175.21 million), the United States (11.25%; USD 103.31 million), and India (8.37%; USD 76.89 million).
Overall, 39.96% of Indonesia's exports were directed to non-ASEAN Asian countries with a total value of USD 366.97 million. Then there were 12.03% of imports from ASEAN countries worth USD 110.48 million. Unlike exports, North Sumatra's import value in February 2023 was 22.65% smaller than January 2023, which was USD 486.335 million. North Sumatra's imported commodities were dominated by mineral fuels (21.12%) with a value of USD 79.44 million. Then there were machines or mechanical aircraft with a value of USD 44.72 million (11.89%). North Sumatra's imports mostly came from China (20.04%) with a value of USD 75.40 million, followed by Singapore (14.96%) worth USD 56.26 million and Malaysia (13.45%) worth USD 50.58 million. In general, North Sumatra's imports were mostly from non-ASEAN Asian countries (35.56%) with a value of USD 133.75 million. The value of North Sumatra's imports from ASEAN countries was USD 132.34 million (35.18%).
