REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, SURABAYA -- East Java's imports in April 2015 rose 3.04 percent to US$1.76 billion from US$1.70 billion in the same month last year, according to the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) Office in East Java.
The April 2015 imports caused the province's balance of trade to see a deficit of US$107 million as exports stood at US$1.593 billion, Chief of BPS Office in East Java M Sairi Hasbullah said here on Wednesday.
However, the April 2015 exports represented a 6.34 percent increase compared to a month earlier.
Hasbullah noted that oil and gas imports rose significantly by 33.66 percent to US$403.33 million in April 2015 compared with the previous month.
"Yet non-oil/non-gas imports fell 3.53 percent to US$1.357 billion," he said.
He said the April 2015 imports were dominated by machines and mechanical appliances with a value of US$159.63 million, accounting for 11.76 percent of the overall imports.
This was followed by iron and steel worth US$118.07 million and wheat worth US$95.52 million.
"By April China was still listed as the biggest supplier of non-oil/non-gas commodities to East Java with a value of US$307.68 million, followed by the United States with US$172.37 million and Japan with US$84.02 million. Imports from the three countries made up 41.56 percent of the overall imports," he said.
Among ASEAN member states, Thailand remained the biggest supplier of non-oil/non-gas commodities to East Java with US$62.38 million, followed by Singapore with US$53.92 million and Malaysia with US$43.58 million.
Cumulatively, East Java's imports in the year ended April 2015 reached US$6.86 billion, down 18.84 percent from US$8.45 billion in the same period last year.