Textile exports to U.S. rose in January<\/p>\n
Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Indonesian textile exports to the world's largest market, the
\nUnited States, were on the rise over the past two months, raising
\noptimism about the outlook of the industry that has cut tens of
\nthousands of jobs over the past few years.<\/p>\n
Quoting data from the U.S. Department of Commerce, Baahri La
\nInggi, a textile industry analyst, said Indonesian textile
\nexports to the U.S. rose by around 8.6 percent to US$223.76 in
\nJanuary this year, compared to the same month of last year.<\/p>\n
For February, he expected that exports to the U.S. could rise
\nby at least 6 percent.<\/p>\n
\"We have yet to find out the figures of our exports in
\nFebruary. But I have confidence that our exports booked an
\nat-least-6-percent increase compared to the same period a year
\nago,\" he told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Baahri, who is also an advisor to the Indonesian Textile
\nAssociation (API) for Greater Jakarta, argued that the increase
\nwas caused by buyers' experiences over the years that Indonesian
\ntextile products were better quality than products from China and
\nVietnam.<\/p>\n
\"Although Indonesian textiles are more expensive than products
\nfrom China, buyers from the U.S. and France have come to realize
\nthat we have higher quality products than both of our
\ncompetitors,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Despite a better performance in 2003, the nation's textile
\nindustry has experienced difficulties for years in competing with
\nproducts from China and Vietnam, which have been flooding the
\nglobal market, including Indonesia, over the past few years.<\/p>\n
Several analysts have painted a bleaker outlook for this year,
\npredicting more job losses in the industry, which was forced to
\ncut about 50,000 jobs in 2002.<\/p>\n
Indonesia's textile exports reached $7.034 billion in 2003, an
\nincrease from $6.88 billion in 2002. However, the 2003 figure was
\nstill lower than exports in 2001 and 2000 which stood at $7.67
\nbillion and $8.20 billion respectively.<\/p>\n
The U.S. market absorbs more than 28 percent of Indonesian
\ntextile exports while European Union countries, Canada, and Japan
\ntake 40 percent, 10 percent and 6 percent respectively. Indonesia
\nnow has 2.5 percent of the total world market share.<\/p>\n
A textile exporter, A.T. Chuan, acknowledged that he managed
\nto increase his exports in 2003, while he also experienced export
\ngrowth in the first two months of the year.<\/p>\n
\"Hopefully, the trend will continue for the rest of the year,\"
\nhe said.<\/p>\n
Sofyan Wanandi, the chairman of the Indonesian Employers
\nAssociation (APINDO) said the current export trend belied the
\nnotion that the performance of Indonesia's textile industry was
\ndeclining.<\/p>\n
\"Many of our products, especially the high quality ones, can
\ncompete with products from China and Vietnam,\" he said.<\/p>\n
However, he admitted that several problems, such as outdated
\nmachineries, would remain major threats for the survival of the
\nindustry for at least three years to come.<\/p>\n
\"We need investment to replace these machines so badly. The
\nproblem is that the banking sector has misjudged the prospect of
\nthe industry and refuse to give credit to textile businessmen. As
\na matter of fact, they are bankable,\" said Sofyan.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/textile-exports-to-us-rose-in-january-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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