It seems that the national textile industry still has to face a number of challenges until the end of 2023. Jemmy Kartiwa Sastraatmadja as General Chair of the Indonesian Textile Association (API) said the challenge for textile industry players in Indonesia came from abroad. “Global conditions are still not good. Both from Europe and the USA (America)," he said, Tuesday (22/08). This, said Jemmy, was reflected in the decision by the United States central bank or the Federal Reserve (The Fed) to raise interest rates to 5.5%. "And there is a possibility that it will increase one more time," he added.
In addition, Indonesia's textile exports are still weak. With weak exports, making exporting countries comb out countries that are considered to have weak trade barriers or countries that are considered to have barriers in the form of a country's low policy in this case, in the textile sector.
"Yes, a clear example is China, which still floods our domestic market," he said.
Jemmy added that the association wants the government to be more serious about tightening the rules for the entry of imported goods. He also explained, this 'sluggish' condition will only start to improve in Q-3 of 2024.
Previously, in early July 2023 the Ministry of Industry (Kemenperin) assessed that the national textile industry was still suffering when compared to its development with other industrial sectors.
Based on Kontan's records, Adie Rochmanto Pandiangan, Director of Industry, Textile, Leather and Footwear of the Ministry of Industry, said the textile industry, especially for apparel products, had actually started to show improved performance recently.
In the records of the Ministry of Industry, the volume of apparel exports increased on a monthly basis from 21.9 million tonnes in April 2023 to 32.5 million tonnes in May 2023. In terms of value, exports of apparel grew from US$ 480.2 million in April 2023 to US$ $700.7 million.
"There is a gap for apparel exports to the United States market by taking advantage of the trade war situation," he said in a June 2023 IKI presentation at the Ministry of Industry Building, Tuesday (27/6).
In addition, the performance of the textile industry, especially apparel, was also driven by increasing domestic market demand, especially for school clothes as the school year changed.
Apparel retailers are also competing to finish their remaining product stocks from the Eid Al-Fitr season and then towards the school holidays.
Unfortunately, the textile industry is still overwhelmed by the threat of imported goods, thereby reducing the effect of increased domestic demand.
Adie said that apparel imports in May 2023 reached 133,000 tons, an increase from the previous month's import realization of 106,000 tons. Such conditions have resulted in part of the ready-to-wear stock owned by local textile producers not being maximally absorbed in the market.
