Textile association calls for halt to polyester probe

Sari P. Setiogi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Indonesian Textile Association (API) has asked the Indonesian Anti-Dumping Committee (KADI) to terminate its investigation into polyester stable fiber imports from Thailand, South Korea and Taiwan.

API said in a statement on Monday the firms that had asked for the investigation failed to meet the legal requirements in filing their request, and could not prove that the imports had caused losses to the domestic industry.

The petition for the investigation was filed by Tifico, Indorama and GT Petrocham with the Indonesian Synthetic Fiber Association in July.

API said that polyester stable fiber exports from Indonesia increased by 138 percent in 2002 from 1999.

In 2002, imports from Thailand, South Korea and Taiwan accounted for just 4.5 percent of total supplies in the domestic market, the association said.

In view of this, API said, claims that the imports caused losses to the domestic industry were baseless.

Furthermore, both Tifico and Indorama import similar products from affiliates in Thailand and South Korea, API said.

As such, the companies cannot call themselves "local firms that have suffered losses caused by polyester stable fiber imports from Thailand, South Korea and Taiwan".