Ukraine is one of the cotton supply countries for Indonesia. According to United Nations Comtrade trade statistics, the value of cotton imports from Ukraine reached US$6,720 in 2020. Ukraine also supplied wadding, fabrics, non-wovens, threads and ropes worth US$5,920 in 2020. The Secretary General of the Indonesian Filament Yarn and Fiber Association (APSyFI) Redma Gita Wirawasta said world cotton prices had increased since last year, and had the opportunity to accelerate again with the existence of Russian-Ukrainian conflict.
Redma said that amid rising cotton prices, textile entrepreneurs usually switch to other raw materials such as polyester and rayon.
"From Russia, the Uzbekistan region, we import cotton, but not much. Usually they [textile entrepreneurs] switch to rayon and polyester," said Redma, Tuesday (1/3/2022).
He continued, the increase in cotton prices will soon be felt by the user industry because it is directly traded as a commodity on the world market. Meanwhile, although polyester is also affected by the increase in world oil prices, the increase is gradual because it goes through a processing process first.
On the other hand, compared to cotton, polyester price increases are usually lower. Currently, the local upstream industry can meet 85 percent of the demand for polyester and rayon. However, 98 percent of the demand for cotton is still met through imports. Meanwhile, the total composition of fiber consumption for the textile industry is 40 percent polyester, 30 percent rayon, and 30 percent cotton.
Meanwhile, Redma also indicated that there would be an impact on export performance if the conflict between the two countries was prolonged. Although the current export demand has not decreased, supply chain constraints due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict have the opportunity to spread to the performance of Indonesian textiles.
"That's why we hope that the local [market] will not be disturbed. If our exports can't regulate world conditions, but we can regulate local conditions. So even if there is a slight disruption to exports, the local ones are still running," said Redma.
