DIGIVESTASI - The Minister of Industry, Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita, reported that batik exports experienced a significant decline of 8.39 percent on an annual basis (year-on-year/yoy) in the second quarter of 2024. One of the main causes of the decline is the rise of imported products, especially from China, which have flooded the global and domestic markets.

Imported batik from China has also penetrated the domestic market, suppressing the competitiveness of local products. Agus emphasized that the batik industry faces similar challenges to other textile sectors that are hit by imported products, both legal and illegal. This is a major obstacle for the local textile industry to compete, including batik products, which are an important part of the textile and apparel sub-sector in the national economy.

In the second quarter of 2024, the textile and apparel industry contributed 5.72 percent to the gross domestic product (GDP) of the non-oil and gas processing industry sector. The export performance of this sector was recorded at US$1.77 billion or equivalent to IDR27.11 trillion (based on an exchange rate of IDR15,318 per US dollar). The batik industry itself contributed US$8.33 million or around Rp127.6 billion to textile and textile product (TPT) exports in the same period.

“Batik products face the same situation as other textile products, namely competition from imported products, both legal and illegal,” said Agus when met at Kota Kasablanka Mall, Jakarta, Wednesday (2/10).

Agus admitted that local textile products, including batik, still have difficulty competing in terms of price with imported products. He also did not rule out the possibility that China is now capable of producing batik. According to him, imported batik from China may not be real batik, but batik-patterned cloth.

“Yes, China can already produce batik. It could be that the imported batik comes from China, or maybe it's not real batik, just batik-patterned cloth,” he said.

Agus emphasized the importance of protection for the textile industry, including batik. He encouraged regulations that support the domestic industry to be able to compete amidst the swift flow of imports.

“There must be protection. Just like other industries, there needs to be pro regulation for domestic industries, including TPT and batik,” Agus concluded.

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