Shoe exports may drop 50% this year: Aprisindo<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): A continuing decline in orders fueled by worries
\nabout the situation here may drive down the country's shoe
\nexports by nearly 50 percent this year, an executive of the shoe
\nindustry has warned.<\/p>\n
The chairman of the Indonesian Footwear Association
\n(Aprisindo), Anton J. Supit, said Monday the drop in shoe exports
\nwould cut the country's foreign exchange earnings from the
\nindustry to about US$1 billion this year from $1.9 billion in
\n1997.<\/p>\n
Anton said the orders had dropped significantly in the last
\nseveral months as usual buyers of Indonesian-made shoes feared
\npolitical uncertainty in the country would affect local shoe
\nproduction and delivery.<\/p>\n
\"It is ironic that, when our products are 20 percent cheaper
\nthan China's, our greatest competitor, we cannot use the
\nopportunity,\" Anton said on the sidelines of a seminar.<\/p>\n
He said buyers also worried that the economic situation would
\nmake it hard for Indonesian producers to obtain letters of
\ncredits to buy their raw materials.<\/p>\n
\"Shoes are fashion and seasonal goods. If they are delivered
\nlate, there would be no use of them.\"<\/p>\n
Buyers place orders three months before the delivery date.<\/p>\n
Regular orders for Indonesia had gone instead to China and
\nVietnam, he said.<\/p>\n
The country's producers of four major shoe companies, Nike,
\nReebok, Villa and Adidas, recorded an average 50 percent fall in
\ntheir subcontract orders, he said.<\/p>\n
Supplies for the four major shoe lines make up 72 percent of
\nthe total shoes exports.<\/p>\n
Anton said only 50 percent of the production capacity in shoe
\nfactories was currently being used.\"<\/p>\n
\"There are only three million pairs of shoes produced in the
\ncountry monthly now, compared to seven million pairs normally.\"<\/p>\n
Anton said about half of the workers in the shoe industry had
\nlost their jobs as their companies drastically cut production.<\/p>\n
For example, a factory with 14 lines which usually produced
\n800,000 pairs of shoes now could only produce 100,000 pairs.<\/p>\n
About 500,000 workers in the sector had been reduced to about
\n250,000 because of the slow down.<\/p>\n
Anton said there were thousands of shoe factories in the
\ncountry -- including small ones -- and 170 members of Aprisindo
\nwhich mostly produced sports shoes.<\/p>\n
Shoe orders began to decline after massive riots broke out in
\nMay. (das)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/shoe-exports-may-drop-50-this-year-aprisindo-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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