Easing mobility and economic recovery have made the textile industry squirm during Ramadan this year. General Chairperson of the Indonesian Textile Association (API) Jemmy Kartiwa Sastraatmaja said the demand for the textile industry increased 30 percent in Ramadan 2022 compared to last year. The increase mainly occurred in the apparel sector, both industrial scale and small and medium industries (IKM). "The increase is quite high, especially in the apparel sector. Compared to last year's Eid, the increase was above 30 percent," said Jemmy.

As is well known, the textile and apparel industry is divided into three, namely the upstream (upstream), the intermediate industrial sector (midstream), and the downstream industrial sector (downstream). The upstream industrial sector is a sector that produces fiber and yarn.

The intermediate industrial sector (midstream) is an industry that produces fabrics and downstream which produces finished goods that are consumed by the public, including garments that process finished fabrics into apparel, both knitted and woven fabrics.

Apparel and textile industry growthSource: Ministry of Industry

One of the producers enjoying increased demand is Mardiyah, a mukena entrepreneur and the manager of Mukena Batik Omah Colet. He said that the economic recovery and the easing of mobility in this year's Ramadan had revived his business.

"From the turnover it is very good. The goods produced are also quickly released and sold. The analogy is that under normal conditions, turnover is 100 and during the pandemic 40, it is now at level 60-70. Thank God," said Mardiyah.

Mardiyah explained that with better sales, she could also hire more people. "Eid 2020 is still early in the pandemic, so sales are still pretty normal, but the second year of the pandemic (2021) is really tough. Now the flow of goods is very fast," he explained.

For the record, Ramadan in 2020 falls on April 24, or just a month after Covid-19 became a global pandemic.

Referring to data from the Ministry of Industry, the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic since the second quarter of 2020 has caused the utilization of many factories in the textile and apparel industry to drop by up to 30%. The decline in purchasing power and very strict restrictions on mobility were the causes of the collapse of the textile industry during 2020. In that year, the textile industry contracted by 2.52% even though in 2019 it grew 4.34%.

The condition of the textile and apparel industry has started to improve since the third quarter of last year and is getting more active ahead of Ramadan. Director of Textiles, Leather and Footwear of the Ministry of Industry, Elis Masitoh, said that the utilization of the textile industry increased sharply in April.

"In terms of production utilization for April, the textile industry reached 70% while the garment industry reached 85%," said Elis.

Traditionally, Ramadan is the peak of Indonesian consumption as demand for goods and services soars. Not only food, consumption of ready-made clothes also increases during Ramadan and Eid considering the tradition of wearing new clothes during Eid.

Data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) shows that consumption of clothing, footwear, and maintenance services will spike sharply in the quarters of Ramadan. In 2021, consumption of clothing, footwear, and maintenance services in the second quarter or during the Ramadan period reached 1.66%, while in the first and second quarters it contracted (negative growth). Consumption in the expenditure group only grew positively in the fourth quarter.

The improvement in demand for apparel for Ramadan this year has also been predicted by the Secretary General of the Indonesian Filament Yarn and Fiber Producers Association (APSyFI) Redma Gita Wirawasta. Redma said that compared to two years ago, the demand for yarn for Eid clothes has improved much this year.

"From upstream is good, demand is good. Only we are still worried that yesterday's imports were really controlled. SMEs are also very confident for production but are still worried about imports," said Redma.

The increase in sales is at least reflected in the high number of people visiting the wholesale center and selling apparel at Tanah Abang Market. Tanah Abang Market Manager Hery Supriyatna said the number of visitors to Tanah Abang Market in early March had reached 25-30 thousand people.