Indonesia to innovate in rayon production

摘要

Indonesia is seeking to diversify its fibre production, developing new ways of utilising the country’s significant biomass to produce fibres such as rayon to create low-cost and quality clothing and achieve global competitiveness, the country’s industry ministry says. “The Indonesian textile and clothing sector is headed in a new direction, with rayon serving as a substitute for cotton,” says Muhdori, the ministry’s director of the textile, leather and footwear industry. “Dissolving pulp is the future of the textile industry, as we seek to diversify not only textile products but also into other nonwoven products,” he says. In September 2019, the government, textile and garment companies and industry associations signed an agreement to promote domestically produced rayon to reduce reliance on imported fibres and yarns. This will build on growth of synthetic fibre production which has now jumped to 3.31 million tonnes per year, up from a mere 320,000 tonnes per year (before 2010), in part this is because of investment from PT Asia Pacific Rayon (APR) and PT Rayon Utama Makmur last year, Muhdori says. One key aspect of this investment is to ensure that the biomass being used is from a sustainable source, so that clothes produced from it can be marketed as environmentally friendly.