RI'S TEXTILE EXPORTS DOWN 13.9 PERCENT

Jakarta, May 14 (ANTARA) - Indonesia's textiles and textile products (TPT) dropped 13.9 percent to around US$2.2 billion in the first quarter of 2009 from US$2.6 billion in the same period last year.

The executive director of Indotextile, Redma Gita Wiraswata, said on Wednesday that the world's TPT market was shrinking, making exports from TPT producers corrected significantly.

Redma who is also the secretary general of the Textile Technology Institute Alumni Association said that actually the country's TPT exports to the main market namely the US rose 2.4 percent in the period while exports from other TPT main exporting countries such as China, India and Mexico dropped.

According to the US Trade Ministry TPT exports from China dropped by seven percent, India 11 percent and Mexico 19 percent.

Exports from Indonesia as well as Vietnam and Bandladesh to the US meanwhile rose. Vietnam's exports were up six percent and exports from Bangladesh 15 percent.

"The positive growth in the three countries' exports to the US has actually been predicted before following relocation of garment plants from South Korea, China and Taiwan to Vietnam, Bangladesh and some to Indonesia," Redma said.

US TPT imports dropped by 12.66 percent in the first quarter this year following an economic crisis in that country.

Redma said the growth of the country's TPT exports to the US was not followed by growth of exports to other countries making total TPT exports in the period to drop 13.9 percent.

The drop in the country's TPT exports in the first quarter was contributed mainly by a decline in exports of thread and fabric by 28.1 percent to US$691.94 million, fiber by 23.62 percent to UD$89.53 million and garment by only four percent to US$1.44 billion.

The country's TPT exports in the first quarter of 2009 only dropped 3.47 percent from US$2.3 billion to US$2.2 billion compared to the fourth quarter of 2008. "Meaning the the drop in the value of TPT exports in the first quarter this year was flat giving better prospects for the next quarter as trend is improving," Redma said.

Redma said the steepest drop of the country's TPT exports happened the third and fourth quarters of 2008 namely by 19 percent.