Below is a list with tagged columns and company profiles.

Today's Headlines Commodities

  • Commodities in Focus: People to Pay Higher Price for a Cup of Coffee?

    For many people coffee is the perfect beverage to start the day. Thanks to caffeine, a cup of coffee stimulates people’s physical and mental performance, hence allowing us to be more productive. So, when your employer allows you to have a coffee break at work, it could very well be in his/her interest as you are about to become more productive!

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  • Soaring Commodity Prices Since 2H-2020; a New ‘Commodities Supercycle’ in the 2020s?

    Over the past couple of months Indonesia’s export performance improved markedly on the back of stronger commodity prices. Considering Indonesia is blessed with the presence of a wide variety of commodities (involving all three types of commodities, namely: agriculture, energy, and metals), the country’s exports obviously get a major boost in times of strengthening commodity prices.

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  • Consumer Price Index: Deflation Due to a Drop in Prices of Foodstuff Commodities

    In September Indonesia’s consumer price index (CPI) deflated by 0.27 percent month-to-month (m/m), particularly due to a decline in food commodity prices. This is good news as we had detected some potential threats to Indonesia’s inflation rate in the August 2019 edition of out monthly report. Meanwhile, Indonesia’s core inflation has remained stable, signaling that deflation is not caused by weakening purchasing power.

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  • Escalating Trade War Impacts on Indonesia's Commodity Prices

    Earlier this week US President Donald Trump announced plans to impose 10 percent import tariffs on USD $200 billion worth of Chinese export products by 30 August 2018, thus further escalating the trade war between the USA and China. While earlier US tariffs focused mostly on industrial goods, the new list of proposed import tariffs includes various commodities (metals, energy and agriculture) as well as consumer products. As a result most commodity prices were in red territory on Wednesday (11/07).

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  • Optimism About Rising Sales of Commercial Vehicles in Indonesia

    After a good year in 2017, sales of commercial vehicles in Indonesia are expected to accelerate further in 2018 on the back of accelerating economic growth, growing activity in the mining and agriculture sectors, and the Gaikindo Indonesia International Commercial Vehicle Expo (to be held between 1-4 March 2018 in the Jakarta Convention Center).

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  • Improving Economy of China Positive for Indonesian Exports

    The economy of China grew 6.8 percent year-on-year (y/y) in the third quarter of 2017. An improving Chinese economy is important for the Indonesian economy as China is the biggest trading partner of Indonesia. Slightly over 10 percent of total Indonesian exports are shipped to China, the world's second-largest economy.

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  • Commodity Price Watch Indonesia: Crude Palm Oil (CPO)

    The strengthening of the crude palm oil (CPO) price continued for the third consecutive trading day on Friday morning (21/07), supported by strong exports and bad weather. CPO futures (October 2017 contract), the most-active contract at Bursa Malaysia, had risen 0.16 percent to 2,580 ringgit per ton by 10:17 am local Jakarta time zone. Earlier in the morning the CPO price opened with a gain after rising 2.02 percent to 2,576 ringgit per ton on Thursday (19/07).

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Latest Columns Commodities

  • Indonesia's Top Ten Companies Ranked by Largest Market Capitalization

    Last week, I provided a basic introduction to investments in Indonesia's capital markets. Now, I will devote my column to the ten largest Indonesian companies by market capitalization. But first let me explain why I take the ten largest companies? Well, simply because these ten companies account for 43.71 percent of Indonesia's total market capitalization. In other words, they reflect almost half of the current condition of the country's capital markets.

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  • Indonesia's Widening Trade Deficit and Increasing Inflation Pressure the Rupiah

    Yesterday, Statistics Indonesia (BPS), a non-departmental government institution, released Indonesia's export and import numbers of February 2013. Indonesia's imports reached US $15.32 billion, while its exports stood at US $14.99 billion. It has thus resulted in the continuation of a trade deficit (US $327.4 million). For Indonesia, which always reported trade surpluses until last year, it is a worrying scenario as the trade deficit and higher inflation put pressure on the IDR rupiah.

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  • World Bank: Indonesia Shows Steady Growth but Pressures Are Mounting

    This week, the World Bank published its Indonesia Economic Quarterly (IEQ, edition March 2013) titled 'Pressures Mounting'. It reports on key developments over the past three months in Indonesia’s economy, and places these in a longer-term and global context. To read the whole report, please visit the World Bank's website at www.worldbank.org or download this edition directly through this link. Below we present the executive summary.

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  • Forecasts for Indonesia's Coal Output and Export are Revised up for 2013

    The chairman of the Indonesia Coal Mining Association said that Indonesia's coal exports are expected to increase from 310 million tons in 2012 to 330 million tons in 2013, a 6.5 percent increase. Coal producers have been facing a tough period since July 2008 when global coal demand weakened and triggered volatile - but mostly declining - coal prices ever since. Coal demand from China and India, however, is expected to increase this year.

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  • Indonesian Palm Oil Companies Report Declining Net Profit

    Indonesian companies engaged in the production of a variety of agricultural products, such as palm oil, experienced a rather poor year in 2012 regarding net profit. Global economic turmoil has reduced the world's consumption of palm oil in both the developed markets and developing markets. In particular decreased demand from China, the world’s biggest buyer after India, made a negative impact on the balance sheets of Indonesian companies.

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  • Fiscal Incentives to Stimulate Investments in Indonesia's Oil and Gas Exploration

    The Indonesian government - through its Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry - has stated to provide fiscal incentives to encourage oil and gas exploration in Indonesia. Indonesia, a former OPEC member, has recorded a declining oil production since the 1990s due to a lack of exploration and investments in this sector. To reverse this situation, the government will provide a number of tax exemptions.

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