Papua's Exports Fall Sharply

Jayapura, Jan 3 (ANTARA) - The exports of the province of Papua dropped sharply by 38.06 percent to US$125.25 million in October, 2012 from US$202.23 million in the previous month. The regional office of the Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) attributed the decline to shrinking exports of copper ores and concentrate. Papua has larger copper mines operated by US company PT Freeport Indonesia. An executive of the regional BPS office , Adriana Carolina, said Papua`s exports of copper ore and concentrate fell 39.05 percent to US$117.19 million in October from the previous month. In October, Papua has no record of oil or gas exports. Its other export commodities include timber and timber products ans fish . The exports in October brought the province`s total exports to US$759.18 million in the first ten months of 2012, down sharply from US$3,557.21 million in the same period in 2011. Adriana said copper concentrate is still the main export commodity from Papua . In October, the province exported 51,000 tons of copper concentrate to a number of countries including the Philippines, China, Japan and South Korea.