Indonesia's Ready-Made Garment Exports Still Grow in January-April 2018

The US-China trade war has raised concerns about Indonesia's export performance, particularly for textile products. This anxiety is well-founded, as more than half of Indonesia's ready-to-wear textile exports are destined for the US market. In 2017, these exports reached US$3.45 billion, representing approximately 51% of the total.

However, textile export performance during the first four months of this year remained positive. The value of ready-to-wear exports from January to April 2018 grew by 10.12% to US$2.77 billion compared to the same period the previous year. Similarly, volume increased by 2.56%, reaching almost 52,000 tons.

For ready-to-wear (garment) textile exports, the value grew by 8.57% to US$2.39 billion during January-April 2018. This contributed 86.19% to the total ready-to-wear exports. Ready-to-wear knitwear exports also increased by 24.85% to US$280.48 million, textile apparel accessories rose by 20% to US$53.56 million, and knit shirts and similar items increased by 3.27% to US$45 million. Meanwhile, exports of ready-to-wear garments and accessories decreased by 4.83% to 3.21 million.