Indonesia Rattan Industry Affected by Crisis

Pekerja menata rotan yang tengah dijemur di Desa Talagawaru, Lombok Barat, NTB
Sumber :
  • ANTARA/Budi Afandi

VIVAnews - Exports of rattan furniture from Indonesia have decreased since the US economic downturn in 2008, which is aggravated by the debt crisis in Europe. The fall in demand from European and American markets have an impact on the rattan production centers in Cirebon, West Java.

"Every year some centers are closed down. Some set up startups to try their luck, but sometimes they can only make it for six months," said General Manager of CV Sulawesi Jaya, Elfis Liandi, in Cirebon, Thursday.

CV Sulawesi Jaya is one of the largest suppliers of wood and rattan in Cirebon. It originally started in Tangerang, which used to be one of the centers for rattan furniture industry. In 2000, it moved to Cirebon because the furniture industry in Tangerang was stagnant. Elfis’ company used to take the rattan from the rattan centers in Central, North, and South Sulawesi, Kalimantan and West Sumatra.

Since 2008, the demand for rattan from rattan factories has dropped 50 percent. The reason he often heard from the artisans was the lower export demands from Europe and America since the downturn. "Furniture is a secondary need," he said.

In order to survive, his company tried hard to maintain the company’s cash flow and keep up 200 available employees. Earlier this year, he lowered the selling price of semi-finished rattan by 5 to 10 percent due to lower demand for rattan.

He sold three classes of rattan. AB rattan is the best type to sell at the price of Rp12,000/kg; BC is intermediary class, Rp10,000/kg; and CD, lowest class, Rp8,000/kg. The best class is used for furniture, with natural shiny white, while the CD- class is of bad quality, with pale blue color and is usually used to make baskets. He sold rattan with a bundle weighing 80 kgs.

Elfis also applied debt system to around 100 artisans and factories. "Only 1 to 2 percent of them pay in cash," he said.

To that end, he asked the government to further boost the rattan furniture industry in Cirebon.

"If supported by enough funds, the rattan furniture sector in Cirebon may continue," he said.

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VIVA.co.id
29 Maret 2024