Improvements in manufacturing performance shown by the surge in the purchasing managers' index (PMI) in October were reflected in the textile industry. This improvement, apart from the easing of restrictions on community activities (PPKM), was also influenced by external factors such as a decrease in the supply of imported goods from China. China's energy crisis and shipping bottlenecks have opened up new markets that domestic industry players inevitably have to fill, thereby boosting production activities. "Our production has increased quite a lot, especially when PPKM has finished, and most importantly the demand has increased quite a lot in the last two months due to world

conditions," said Secretary General of the Indonesian Filament Yarn and Fiber Association (APSyFI), Redma Gita Wirawasta, when contacted, Monday (1/11/2021).

Redma continued, the average industrial utilization rate is in the range of 60 percent to 90 percent. In addition, the smooth performance of textiles was not affected by the increase in cotton prices in the world market due to the substitution of polyester and rayon materials.

Redma underlined that this performance improvement was more influenced by external factors than government policies to control imports. However, he still hopes that the government will implement an import control mechanism so as to open up opportunities for business players to expand the domestic market.

"We hope this will be a lesson, if you want to increase investment, smooth industrial activity, give us the market, it will definitely work, the important thing is that imports are controlled," he said.

He is also optimistic that the performance of the textile industry will make positive achievements this year, even though it will contract in the first two quarters of 2021. The performance of the third and fourth quarters is predicted to grow so as to cover the contraction throughout the first half of this year.

Previously, in the second quarter of 2021, year-on-year the textile and apparel sector recorded a contraction of 4.54 percent, while quarter-to-quarter grew 0.43 percent.

Textiles and apparel were the only sectors in the non-oil and gas processing industry that contracted in the second quarter of this year.

Similarly, the first quarter of 2021, where textiles recorded a red report card with the deepest contraction among other manufacturing sectors, which was 13.28 percent.