Egypt: $1bn textiles investment includes jeans factory
Egypt’s public enterprise ministry has invested approximately $1 billion (31 billion Egyptian pounds) in seven textile factories, each of which will be operational by next year.
More than half of the total funds stem from a $655 million (€600 million) machinery purchasing loan, according to local media.
The plans encompass a jeans-making factory in the city of Damietta, two mills and two spinning facilities in El Mahalla, plus a plant each in both Kafr El Dawwar and Helwan.
Pilot operations commenced at a spinning factory and a mill in El Mahalla earlier this month.
Just over 250,000 hectares (600,000 feddans) of short-staple cotton fibre will need to be harvested annually to sufficiently fulfil the spinning mills’ requirements, reports went on to say. The country is more typically known for its long- and extra-long-staple cottons.
Eventually, the Egyptian government expects to lease several production lines through rent or profit share agreements. One of the two plants under construction is to function as a dyehouse, for example, under 60% private-sector ownership.
