The Indonesian textile and garment industry is facing several challenges, but the biggest is an increase in legal or illegal import of raw materials as well as textiles and apparel, which are flooding local markets.
This was the main concern raised by the Chairman of the Indonesian Textile Association (API), Jemmy Sastraatmadja, other than a slowdown in exports from the industry due to the global economic downturn.
He shared data, which informed that the import volume of textiles and garments reached 2.16 million tons in 2022, or US $10 billion in 2022, at a meeting of API members.
He also added that textile and clothing imports have surged 40 percent annually between 2020 and 2022.
Chinese market share of Indonesian imported textiles and garments, volume-wise, stood at a staggering 66 percent followed by Bangladesh with 8 percent and Vietnam with 6 percent.
Indonesia imported the highest volume of raw materials for the textile industry again from China, whose share was a massive 48 percent, followed by Brazil, Australia, and America with around 5-6 percent.
He also raised concerns over the decline in textile and clothing exports, mainly due to decreased consumer spending in their main markets of the US and EU.
The API Chairman also was concerned about the utilization of machinery in various garment and textile factories which has slipped to the lowest level of 65 percent.
“The Indonesian government seriously needs to control the legal as well as illegal imports of textiles and garments, otherwise, the sector will witness more job losses, which stood at 70,000 till now in 2023,” he stated.
Indonesian textile sector impacted by legal & illegal imports
