“According to the alumni union of the state-sanctioned Textile Technology Institute (ITT-STTT), exports of textile products dropped 3.47 percent in the first quarter this year from the last quarter of 2008. ..The quarter-to-quarter figure was relatively better than the 19 percent drop from the third to thefourth quarter of last year, it said in a statement Thursday. ..”The value of exports of textiles in the first quarter of 2009 declined, but not by much, resulting in optimism for the next quarters as it (the decline) showed a slowing trend,” said Redma Gita Wirawasta, the alumni union’s secretary-general. ..He said Indonesia’s textile industry suffered from negative impacts from the global economic downturn, which led importing countries to cut their demand for textiles. ..As the US cut demand on textiles, exports of Indonesian textiles dropped 13.9 percent year-on-year. Cloth and thread products suffered the largest drop of 28.1 percent. ..Still, domestic demand of textiles between January and March managed to increase by 25 percent year-on-year, or 67,500 tons up on the same period in 2008, helped in part by the legislative elections. .
“In the first quarter of 2008, the textile industry sold up to 270,000 tons. ..Yuliab Koersen, the marketing analyst of Indotextiles, said that of the 25 percent rise in domestic demand 15 percent was for locally made goods while imports accounted for 10 percent. ..”This happened particularly to T-shirts, 50 percent of which are imported products. They then printed the designs here,” he said. ..If local demand for textile products increases now, it will help reduce the number of workers laid-off in the labor-intensive industry. .
“According to the Manpower and Transmigration Ministry, 51,000 workers have been laid off this year, with most of them working in the garments, plantations and forestry industries. ..The Industry Ministry has said the textile industry is the most affected by the global downturn, but still expects full-year growth in the sector of up to 4.6 percent..
Date:5/17/2009
Source:The Jakarta Post