Imports of man-made fibre-based apparel were valued at $224.188 million last year, while imports of cotton apparel from Indonesia were noted at $102.068 million in the same period. The country imported apparel made from other types of fibres worth $101.895 million, accounting for 22.70 per cent of the total imports. In the same period, the inbound shipment of apparel made from wool/animal hair was $20.729 million (4.62 per cent), and silk apparel imports were noted at $44,691 in 2023, according to SBS Zipper’s market insight tool TexPro.Further data analysis reveals that South Korea imported trousers & shorts worth $109.998 million last year, which was 24.50 per cent of the total. This category was the most dominant in the total apparel imports from Indonesia. T-shirt imports from the country were $50.973 million, the second most dominant, with an 11.35 per cent share. The imports of innerwear were $37.544 million (8.36 per cent), jackets & blazers $33.621 million (7.49 per cent), jerseys $32.197 million (7.17 per cent), and shirts $26.305 million (5.86 per cent). The top five apparel products contributed over 65 per cent to the total apparel imports from Indonesia, according to TexPro.

Indonesia was the fifth-largest apparel supplier to South Korea, following China, Vietnam, Italy, and Bangladesh. Indonesia's share was 4.48 per cent of South Korea's total apparel imports, which amounted to $11.972 billion in 2023.

SBS Zipper News Desk (KUL)