Tanjungpinang - The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) recorded that the export value of the Riau Islands Province (Kepri) in July 2020 reached 1,008.56 million US Dollars, an increase of 11.53 percent, from the previous one which was only 904.28 million US Dollars.

Head of Riau Islands Province BPS, Agus Sudibyo said that the increase of export value in July 2020 was due to an increase in exports in the oil and gas sector which reached 18.37 percent and the non-oil and gas sector by 10.09 percent.

He added, when compared to the same month in the previous year, the Riau Islands Province exports decreased by 24.66 percent, from US $ 1,338.73 million to US $ 1,008.56 million.

"The decline in export value in July 2020 compared to July 2019 was dominated by the decline in exports in the oil and gas sector, which reached around 68.98 percent," he said.

Meanwhile, the total cumulative exports from January to July 2020 for Riau Islands Province amounted to US $ 6,704.78 million.

However, when compared to the total cumulative exports from January to July 2019, it decreased by 9.94 percent, from US $ 7,444.75 million to US $ 6,704.78 million.

"The decline in export value from January to July 2020 was due to the decline in cumulative exports in the oil and gas sector by 46.79 percent," he said.

During January-July 2020, continued Agus, Singapore became the largest non-oil export destination country, reaching US $ 1,760.04 million or around 32.41 percent.

Agus added, the export value of Riau Islands Province in January-July 2020 was the largest through the Batu Ampar Port, which reached US $ 3,070.17 million.