NTT’s Direct-Export Push Remains Unconfirmed by Route Commitments
NTT has pressed for direct export routes since 2017, but the available record shows no confirmed dedicated service, route commitment or shipping timetable.
By Pandi Muktar
Editor: Mursyid Sonsang
· Event date: · 3 min read
Labuan Bajo — Nusa Tenggara Timur (NTT) has sought to strengthen direct export access from the province rather than routing goods through Surabaya, but the available record does not show that a dedicated international service was later put in place. A 2017 report said then-governor Frans Lebu Raya was pressing Jakarta to support direct exports from NTT.
The proposal mattered for producers in an archipelagic province that includes Flores, where longer logistics chains can complicate cold storage, scheduling and product identity. But the figures in the record do not establish any verified cost savings, transit-time changes or carrier commitments tied to a direct route.
Lebu Raya said the goal was for NTT commodities, including fish, to reach foreign buyers without being branded mainly as cargo from Surabaya, according to the report. The same report described Surabaya as the gateway through which NTT exports were then moving to destination countries.
What the proposal was meant to change
The request was a policy proposal, not a signed shipping contract. It sought approval for products from NTT to be exported from the province itself, rather than being consolidated elsewhere first.
That would still require port facilities, customs and quarantine services, regular vessel calls and an operator willing to sustain the service. No source in this record identifies a shipping line, a destination port in NTT or a launch date for any such route.
Trade data from the period show that NTT remained a relatively small exporter. A provincial statistics report for September 2017 put exports at US$1.94 million, down 13.73% from August, with all exports that month going to Timor-Leste.
The same data showed imports of US$864,947 in September 2017, mainly mineral fuels from South Korea. The largest export commodity group that month was mineral fuels, valued at US$405,891.
What the trade data show
The figures help explain why policymakers were interested in improving logistics and market identity, but they do not prove that direct export facilities were already operating. The September 2017 export total included US$345,691 in oil and gas exports and US$1.596 million in non-oil and gas exports.
For the first nine months of 2017, the same provincial statistics report cited exports of US$17.01 million and imports of US$43.20 million, leaving a trade deficit of US$26.19 million. Those numbers describe the period reported in 2017 and should not be read as a current balance.
The 2017 proposal was raised in Kupang during the opening of the 12th regional meeting of the Indonesian Young Entrepreneurs Association in NTT. Lebu Raya said he had already submitted the proposal to the central government and hoped national policy would support direct exports from the province.
The record here does not show a later formal approval, a designated NTT export port or a scheduled direct sailing. It also does not establish that the proposal specifically covered Flores alone rather than NTT as a whole.
Data points reported for September 2017
- Exports: US$1.94 million and 70,638.90 tonnes.
- Non-oil and gas exports: US$1.596 million.
- Main export commodity group: mineral fuels, US$405,891.
- Destination reported: Timor-Leste.
- Imports: US$864,947 and 2,447.8 tonnes.
Separately, a Timor-Leste government trade publication noted that NTT is an important source of goods for Timor-Leste and that much trade still bypasses ports in NTT, underscoring the region’s long-standing cross-border trade links.
Sources
Next story
Labuan Bajo tourism authority links Work from Bajo to 38% visit rise
The tourism authority said its “Work from Bajo” campaign was linked to a 38% rise in visits, but the published material did not show the baseline, met…