The Minister of Trade of the Republic of Indonesia, Muhammad Lutfi, officially released viscose rayon fiber products produced by PT Asia Pacific Rayon (APR) to global and domestic markets, Wednesday (1/12/2021) in Pangkalan Kerinci, Pelalawan Regency, Riau Province. This export shipment of viscose rayon fiber products is marked by the number of container trucks by the Minister of Trade Handled by the Deputy Governor of Riau, Edy Natar Nasution, Regent of Pelalawan, Zukri Misran, Managing Director of RGE, Anderson Tanoto, COO of APRIL, Eduward Ginting and Director of APR, Basrie Kamba.

 The total sales of viscose rayon fiber products until the end of October 2021 reached 111.01 kilo tons for the export market and 77.51 kilo tons for the domestic market. In addition, the Minister of Trade also released the export of PaperOneTM paper, produced by PT Riau Andalan Pulp and Paper (RAPP), which has been sold to more than 75 countries with total exports reaching more than 755,000 tons.

The Minister of Trade also revealed that the world trade situation is chaotic and that countries have lost trust in one another. A number of European countries have also passed laws for countries that allow exporting products to their countries to be subject to due diligence the products come from sustainable forests.

 "For this reason, I am present at APR because I believe that Indonesia can and is responsible not only for Indonesian goods but also for forests which are the foundation of life for the Indonesian people in the present and in the future," he added.

 APR of high value-added products such as viscose rayon fiber or Viscose Staple Fiber (VSF), a biodegradable man-made fiber from wood fibers that has characteristics similar to cotton. VSF is the raw material for making yarn, which is then made into clothes, garments, and household items.

The Riau Provincial Government fully supports what the business world is doing to increase investment and stimulate the regional economy as well as improve the welfare of the community. The release of this export is a sustainable momentum by producing exports which are expected to continue to increase.

 “The existence of this factory is an investment made by RAPP and APR to produce rayon. This factory is an expansion of RAPP which previously only engaged in the pulp and paper industry. With this factory, Riau will not only become the center of the pulp and paper industry, but also rayon as a textile raw material,” he explained.

The operation of this rayon factory can be our mainstay of textile raw materials with a world-scale capacity. This factory investment supports the government's agenda for a national-scale textile industry strategy.

"We all hope that the rayon factory in Riau can increase the gross domestic product of Riau Province by 1.49% from the non-oil and gas sector and encourage small and medium industries in several business sectors that are involved in factory operational activities. This can have a chain effect for sustainable economic development in Riau,” he explained.

APRIL COO, Eduward Ginting said that although the world is currently facing a lot of pressure in the COVID-19 pandemic situation, the production and marketing of APR's viscose rayon fiber products still shows a positive performance. This is inseparable from the support of various parties, especially the community, the Pelalawan Regency Government, the Riau Provincial Government and the Central Government, one of which is the Ministry of Trade of the Republic of Indonesia.

 "The activity to increase viscose rayon exports to the global market and domestic market is APR's new effort in an effort to strengthen the national textile industry while reducing imports of textile raw materials from other countries," said Eduward.

April's production of viscose rayon fiber reaches 300,000 tons per year and has been exported to 22 countries. Currently, APR is also preparing for the second phase of construction and doubling its production capacity to 600,000 tons per year in 2023.

APR is a company that is committed to supporting the government's vision to encourage export-oriented national production. Viscose rayon is a textile raw material that is produced domestically with global market potential similar to sustainable fashion trends.