Interview with Uhan Soebiantoro

Uhan Soebiantoro
GM - Commercial Fabric Sales
Lucky Abadi Textile

Among top three in Indonesia in printing on cotton

Luckytex is an integrated textile manufacturing company founded by Djohansyah Tamin in 1970. It manufactures products like yarn, greige fabrics, printed and dyed finished fabrics. Uhan Soebiantoro, GM - Commercial Fabric Sales, Lucky Abadi Textile, speaks to Fibre2Fashion about how the company has grown in the last 50 years and become one of the leaders in the textile printing industry in Indonesia.

You are in the textile industry for almost 50 years now. What are the major achievements of your company throughout these years? Which were the turnaround years in terms of business?

During the last 50 years, textile industries have been going through a lot of changes and turmoil. We had to survive and have grown by taking advantage of the disruptions. We witnessed the rise of China in the early 2000s, after which a lot of factories in Indonesia were not able to compete. We had to be innovative and were able to increase our market share to become one of the leaders in the textile printing industry in Indonesia.

What is your market share in Indonesia as an integrated textile manufacturer? What is your USP in comparison to other big players?

The textile industry in Indonesia is vast. We are not the biggest, but we are definitely one of the most innovative companies. If we take part of the industry which concerns printing on cotton and natural fibres, then we are one of the top three in Indonesia in terms of quality, and product variety.

What is the annual production capacity of each of your products i.e - yarn, greige fabrics, printed and dyed finished fabrics? Which segment is seeing the highest growth and to what do you attribute it to?

Yarn - 48,000 bales per annum

Greige - 25,000,000 metres per annum

Fabrics - 30,000,000 metres per annum.

We see the highest growth potential in the finished fabrics segment, due to the growing local fashion industry in Indonesia and shifting of production of international brands to Indonesia.

To which markets do you supply your products to? Please give us bifurcation in terms of exports and domestic markets.

We supply to various international brands and markets in over 50 countries. Europe and US are our main destinations for international market. We also have a buoyant local fashion industry in Indonesia. Our export base market represents 60 per cent of our business, and the rest is for local.

Who are the major international garment makers to whom you supply your products to?

In international brands, we cater to H&M, Tom Taylor, S Oliver, Quicksilver, Calvin Klein, Hugo Boss, Jack Wolfskin, Brook Brothers, Tommy Hilfigher.

Which trends are going to drive the way you do business in the next 2-3 years?

Sustainability is the key. Everything is moving towards it.

What are the sustainability related initiatives you have undertaken at the plant and the production level?

We have updated our WWT plant so that we can reuse our water. We have upgraded our machineries to the latest version which uses a fraction of the water and energy compared to the older machines. The fibre which we use is also sustainable and biodegradable.

What are the challenges facing the Indonesian textile industry? Where should the government step in?

We are facing so much of illegal import of fabrics from China.

Has the trade war between China and US, has had any major impact on the Indonesian textile industry?

Even before the conflict started, some of the business from China had already come to Indonesia. And the trade conflict increases the urgency to shift to Indonesia.

Please share details of your last two fiscals, and the factors affecting your performance.

In the last two fiscals, our sales increase has been mostly in the range of 15 to 20 per cent since we are expanding our capacity, and shifting to more organic fibre, which helps us to increase our market share.

What are your future plans? Are you planning to move into any other product category in future?

Our future plan is to strengthen our core competences which is printing and experimenting with more and more variations of mixed natural and cellulosic fibres. Also we plan to expand our weaving and finishing facility.

By when can we a expect a fashion garment line by you? What will be its USP?

For the moment we are more focused in our current business model and try to leverage our competences. (PC)

Published on: 12/02/2020

DISCLAIMER: All views and opinions expressed in this column are solely of the interviewee, and they do not reflect in any way the opinion of Fibre2Fashion.com.