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Pekalongan, Central Java (ANTARA News) - The textile industry in Pekalongan, Central Java, is reeling under the weight of sharply increased prices of cotton and rayon, and facing tight competition from cheaper imported products, a spokesman said.

Anis Sungkar, chairman of the Pekalongan branch of the Indonesian Textile Association (API), said here Wednesday, the drastic increase in the prices of cotton and rayon as the industry`s feedstock had become a serious problem to the local textile producers as they had made the industry unable to compete with cheaper imported products.

"Currently, there are only two rayon producers in Indonesia, namely Soft Pacific and Indo Barat Rayon. But as the rayon price in international markets has increased, they prefer to export their products," Anis said.

Pekalongan is one of the country`s main traditional batik production centers.

Many textile producers in Pekalongan could no longer afford their production costs and in 2006 and 2007 they had to cut the number of their workers while some of them even collapsed.

Textile products from Pekalongan are marketed throughout the country and also exported to Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, European countries and the United States.

Anis called on the government to take immediate action to help the textile producers and stop illegal textile imports. "We suspect, a lot of foreign-made textiles entered Indonesia illegally," he said.

Meanwhile, the chairman of the Pekalongan branch of the Indonesian Businessmen`s Association (Apindo), Umar Ahmad, said out of a total of 300 textile companies in the city, 90 percent had stagnated and the rest had become bankrupt.

"The situation has been aggravated by the increased cost of electricity and the high cost of the energy switch from oil to coal," he said. (*)

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