Cotton spinners told to seek new suppliers

Cotton spinners told to seek new suppliers

JAKARTA (JP): The newly-established Indonesian Cotton Consumer
Club (ICCC) called on its members yesterday to seek new cotton
suppliers from the United States other than Calcot Ltd.

"If Calcot does not guarantee that it will not again send
defective cotton, which is infected by cavitoma, honeydew or
other contaminants, ICCC members should review their trade
relations with that U.S. company and find other suppliers," said
club chairman Soeripto.

Soeripto said Calcot had promised a number of domestic
consumers that it would not ship them fungus-infected cotton,
especially cotton from Imperial and Yuma Valley in California.
However, he said, the company broke its promise and shipped
cavitoma-infected cotton.

The issue of cavitoma-infected cotton surfaced in January when
PT Argo Manunggal International complained that the 20,545 bales
of cotton fiber delivered by Calcot during the October-December
period in 1995 produced an excessive amount of waste due to low
fiber strength and produced low-quality yarn.

Soeripto said that eight local spinning firms had complained
of cavitoma infection in the cotton that they had imported
through Calcot. They include Argo Manunggal, PT Gokak Indonesia,
PT Sandang II and PT Putra Sejati Spinning Mills Ltd.

Sidik Murdiono, executive vice president of PT Argo Pantes,
the holding company of Argo Manunggal, told The Jakarta Post last
week that his company, along with other domestic spinning firms,
was undergoing negotiations with Calcot.

"We no longer take their (Calcot) promises. We just want them
to change the cotton (it will ship to Indonesia) with cotton that
is free from cavitoma," Sidik said.

The United States supplies nearly 45 percent of the 2.5
million bales of cotton fiber needed annually by Indonesia's
textile industry. Of Indonesia's total cotton imports from the
United States, almost 50 percent is supplied by Calcot.

The ICCC yesterday also lashed out at U.S. Commerce Secretary
Mickey Kantor for denying that Calcot shipped defective cotton to
Indonesia.

"The ICCC is concerned over the statement made by U.S.
Commerce Secretary Mickey Kantor before journalists in Jakarta
concerning ex-America cavitoma-infected cotton," the club's
statement said.

Kantor, who was here last week to boost bilateral trade, told
journalists that the cotton shipments to Indonesia were not
infected with any kind of adverse or foreign elements.

"We have no evidence whatsoever there was anything wrong with
that shipment," Kantor said.

Soeripto called Kantor's statement totally wrong, adding that
Calcot itself admitted that it had shipped fungus-infected cotton
to Indonesia and promised not to ship more defective cotton to
Indonesia.

He said the ICCC is trying to promote the improvement of
international trade regulations on cotton, which currently favor
sellers over consumers.

International cotton-trade disputes are currently handled by
10 international arbitration bodies, including those in
Liverpool, Rotterdam and Bombay.

"However, those bodies do not recognize problems related to
cavitoma, honeydew and other contaminants in cotton," Soeripto
said. "That's why we're now drafting our terms of trade to
protect our interests."

He said such terms of trade will be distributed to spinning
firms as a reference for making contracts with cotton suppliers
so that they can protect themselves against what he called unfair
trading practices.

The ICCC itself was set up in May to cope with unfair trading
practices and as a forum for cotton fiber consumers to exchange
information on cotton imports and suppliers. It currently groups
35 local leading spinning firms. (pwn/rid)