Australia sees Indonesia as major wool mart
Australia sees Indonesia as major wool mart
SYDNEY (Reuter): A rejuvenating Australian wool industry sees
Indonesia, one of the hottest countries in the world, as a major
new market as wool innovates to recapture a growing share of the
world apparel market.
Indonesia currently consumes about 1,500 tons a year of
Australian wool, worth about A$20 million.
But by 2000 consumption is expected to reach 6,000 tons a
year, an increase of 300 percent, said Adrian Kloeden, managing
director of the International Wool Secretariat (IWS).
Kloeden, speaking to Reuters after announcing that wool was
gaining a strong foothold in Indonesia, said the country had the
potential to grow into a A$100 million a year market for
Australian wool.
"Until now people have said that wool and hot weather don't
mix. We have proved them wrong with innovative products like Cool
Wool and easy care wool, designed to suit warm climates," Kloeden
said.
Cool Wool is a pure wool product but there were a whole range
of blend opportunities, he said.
Battling a stagnant international share of the apparel market
in recent years, Australian wool's drive into Indonesia is part
of a wider attempted re-birth.
"Very environmentally friendly, hot and hairy, heavy, suitable
for winter, a bit scratchy, that's the old image. The new
consumer requirements are lightweight, suitable for all the
seasons of the year, easy to care for and casual and youthful,"
he said.
Kloeden also sees spin-offs for Australian business in general
from the push into Indonesia.
Macquarie Textiles, Australia's largest textile maker, has
entered into a marketing agreement with PT Georgia Macquarie
Indonusa to manufacture wool suits in Indonesia, he said.
This is the first time an Australian textile group has
attempted entry to textile manufacturing in Indonesia since
failed attempts in the 1970s, he said.
IWS had also assisted in the establishment of a worsted
spinning joint venture between PT Hadtex of Bandung and the
German spinner Stohr, he said.
The joint venture had recently doubled its capacity and was
sourcing high quality wool tops from Australia, he said.
Fashion parades
The IWS wool drive into Indonesia will involve fashion parades
with the Australian collection to feature designs by Country
Road, Carla Zampatti, Jane Lamerton and others.
The Indonesian collection will feature Poppy Dharsono, Itang
Yunasz, Iwan Tirta and Ramli. Well-known international designers
also feature.
Technology also is being developed to allow batik printing on
pure wool fabrics.
The push into Indonesia would also boost Australia's early
stage wool processors because later stage processing will be
undertaken in Indonesia, Kloeden said.
"We expect this Indonesian initiative to be a springboard for
Australian wool into other ASEAN countries, some of the fastest-
growing consumer markets in the world," he said.
Manufacturing costs for spinning and weaving in Indonesia were
about 50 cents an hour compared with $12.00 in the U.S. and
U$25.00 in Japan. Australian costs were just slightly less than
in the U.S., he said.
"(Indonesia) will not be another China (for Australian wool),"
he said. "But it's a high-growth, high-value market for
Australia."