Manufacturers of textiles and textile products in the country are prepared to take advantage of opportunities from the reopening of export access to countries that no longer impose export barriers.
One product that is free from trade remedies is viscose spun yarn (VSY or viscose yarn) by India. The product is free from antidumping investigations initiated by the country's authorities and its export opportunities reach US$49.3 million.
Secretary General of the Indonesian Fiber and Filament Yarn Producers Association (APSyFI) Redma Gita Wiraswasta said the world's main textile producing countries such as India have always been a prospective market for Indonesia.
With the downstream industry capacity being larger than the upstream industry, Redma said the supply deficit could be filled by other producing countries, including Indonesia.
“Countries like China and India are complete from upstream to downstream for the textile industry. The spinning industry for cloth is also large so it becomes a share for upstream products. This means they are an important market,” said Redma.
Redma also stated that the demand for viscose yarn is quite good in India even though Indonesia was the target of an anti-dumping investigation.
According to Redma, the discontinuation of the investigation and ending without the imposition of import duties, is the result of the efforts of the government and producers to prove that Indonesian exports are not a threat and do not contain dumping.
“India's viscose yarn production capacity is approximately the same as Indonesia's, around 800,000 tons a year. However, with larger downstream industries, they still need supplies from other countries," he said.
Center of Reform on Economics (CORE) economist Mohammad Faisal said the repeal of the trade remedies policy could be a momentum for Indonesian producers to increase exports.
"During the pandemic, although demand is affected, from the aspect of domestic supply there are still limitations. For exporters, this is an opportunity to boost exports," he said.
