Farmers and campaigners have urged the government to again go through the 2009 Trade Ministry Regulation restricting the export of rattan, as the same could annihilate the domestic rattan industry.
Julius Hoesan from the Indonesian Rattan Businessmen Association (APRI), recently, during a conversation stated that, the rule has narrowed down rattan exports from country as it now permits exports to a maximum of 35,000 tons of semi-finished rattans per year.
He stated that, where the country has the calibre to produce around 696,000 tons of rattan each year, it hardly utilizes 40,000 tons of rattan per year. This leaves them in a dilemma as to what to do with the unutilized lot, as also this has lead to a fall in the prices of rattan.
According to him, the government should rather permit exporting these extra rattans. Lisman Sumardjani, Chairman of the Indonesian Rattan Foundation, said that, the annual domestic consumption of rattan came to around 75,000 tons, which has thus left the country with a surplus of 621,000 tons.
As per his estimates, if rattan were exported as semi-finished products, this could possibly reap US $1.8 billion to the country. Also he added that, there are possibilities of making more out of it, if rattan is transformed in to furniture or crafts prior to exporting the same.
Around 82 percent of the world's total rattan production comes from Indonesia, making it the biggest producer of rattan, world over. But, as export restrictions have lead to a dearth of rattan in the international market, production of synthetic rattan is on the rise.
Fibre2Fashion News Desk - India