Daiwabo opens canvas plant

JAKARTA (JP): PT Daiwabo Industrial Fabrics Indonesia is ready to supply dryer canvas to domestic paper companies following the completion of its plant in Cirebon, West Java, company president Huto said on Thursday.

"Daiwabo Indonesia will produce 50,000 cubic meters of dryer canvas this year. And we will increase it up to 120 cubic meters by 2001," Huto was quoted by Antara as saying.

The firm, the first dryer canvas producer in Indonesia, will export about 85 percent of its production and sell the remaining 15 percent on the domestic market.

Domestic demand for dryer canvas reaches 64,000 cubic meters annually, all of which was formerly imported from Japan.

Daiwabo Indonesia is a joint venture between the Association of Indonesian Batik Producers (GKBI) and two Japanese investors, Daiwabo and Nichimen Corporation Limited, with shareholding of 20 percent, 75 percent and 5 percent respectively.(02)