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)