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Latest Reports Textile
Although it wasn’t a big surprise (as the Indonesia Stock Exchange had already suspended trading of the company’s shares since May 2021), it was still shocking to read that Indonesian textile giant Sri Rejeki Isman (Sritex), which is one of the older generations of companies in Indonesia, was officially declared bankrupt by the Semarang City Commercial Court on 23 October 2024.
In recent years we have repeatedly heard Indonesian government officials (as well as analysts) emphasize on the importance of tapping the potential of non-traditional export markets in an effort to improve Indonesia’s export performance (and trade balance).
The textile and textile products industry (which includes garments or clothes) is a very important one for the Indonesian economy because this industry ranks among the country’s biggest foreign exchange earners (thanks to strong exports), while also providing jobs to more than 3.7 million Indonesians, and contributing nearly seven percent to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) – provided we only take non-oil and gas manufacturing into account – or around 1.25 percent of total GDP.
On Wednesday (5.05.2021) Indonesia Investments released the April 2021 edition of its monthly report. In the report we track important developments - from the perspective of politics, the economy and social matters - that were influential (and impacted on the Indonesian economy) last month.
Indonesian exports of textile and textile products could soar threefold if the government of Indonesia finally manages to sign a free trade deal with the European Union (EU). Achmad Sigit Dwiwahjono, Director General for Chemicals, Textiles and Miscellaneous industry at the Industry Ministry, said a major obstacle for Indonesian textile exports at the moment is the weak competitiveness of Indonesian textile companies as compared to their Vietnamese counterparts.
The upstream textile industry of Indonesia urges the Fiscal Policy Office (in Indonesian: Badan Kebijakan Fiskal, or BKF) to exempt local raw materials - supplied by local manufacturers - from VAT. Redma Gita Wirawasta, Secretary General of the Indonesian Synthetic Fiber Producers Association (APSyFI), said he has discussed this proposal during several recent meetings with the BKF.
A small 0.62 percent year-on-year (y/y) growth was detected in Indonesia's textile exports in the first half of 2017. This modest growth was supported by a 20.4 percent (y/y) rise in knitwear exports. Ade Sudrajat, Chairman of the Indonesian Textile Association (API), said Indonesia's downstream textile manufacturers were actually pleased with this result as it exceeds expectations amid bleak textile demand from various countries.
Indonesia's export performance tumbled 10.3 percent month-to-month (m/m) to USD $13.17 billion in April 2017. Suhariyanto, Head of Statistics Indonesia (BPS), attributed this decline to a steep 35.4 percent (m/m) decline in exports of oil and gas products. Nearly all components in the oil and gas balance were plagued by declining prices. However, also in terms of volume these oil and gas exports tumbled, implying weakening global demand for energy (perhaps a sign the Chinese economy remains in slowdown-mode).
The government of Indonesia offers a new incentive to entrepreneurs in Indonesia's footwear and textile (and textile products) sectors who employ at least 2,000 workers and export 50 percent of their total sales. Authorities give a 50 percent discount on income tax to those workers that earn a maximum IDR 50 million (approx. USD $3,850) per year. Both Indonesia's footwear and textile sectors have been plagued in recent years by slowing economic growth, the weak rupiah and rising minimum wages.
Textile companies urge the government to provide more legal certainty in relation to the continuously rising flow of imported textile products. The rising flow is the result of the implementation of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) at the start of 2016. The AEC has created a single market and production base within ASEAN member countries, implying that goods - including textiles and textile products - can flow freely within the region. However, Indonesian textile players say that many textiles that are imported from other ASEAN countries (and thus are free from import tax) actually originate from non-ASEAN countries.
Latest Columns Textile
Indonesian exports of textile and textile products have already reached the value of USD $12.4 billion in 2017, exceeding the Indonesian Textile Association (API)'s target of USD $11.8 billion. The final (full-year) 2017 figure is expected to be higher as the last couple of weeks of 2017 are not included in the USD $12.4 billion. Robust textile demand from Southeast Asia and the Middle East was a decisive factor why the target was achieved.
Foreign exchange earnings are important assets for a national economy. Therefore, many nations have recently been taking a much more protectionist approach vis-à-vis trade in an effort to strengthen their trade positions, generate trade surpluses, hence see the inflow of more foreign exchange earnings. Foreign exchange assets support a stable local currency as well as economy.
There emerged rising competition on the textile market in the Asia-Pacific after wage growth occurred in the textile industries of China and Bangladesh. This situation should be positive for Indonesian textile and garment manufacturer Sri Rejeki Isman (Sritex) because rising production costs of foreign competitors improve the competitiveness of Sritex products.
The batik industry of Indonesia has been under pressure. One stakeholder explained that this industry is currently facing five main challenges. Batik - recognized as a World Cultural Heritage by the UNESCO in 2009 - is traditional textile produced by using a technique of wax-resist dyeing applied to cloth. There are several countries (as well as several regions in Indonesia) that produce batik but the most famous batik originates from the island of Java.
Associated businesses Textile
