Egypt is set to start in 2023 the experimental operation of a new spinning factory, described by the government as the world’s largest factory, located in the Nile Delta’s El-Mahalla city, according to a statement by the Ministry of Public Business Sector.
The factory, owned by the public Masr Spinning and Weaving Company, is dubbed Ghazl 1 Factory and is being constructed over an area of 64,000 square metres.
The factory has around 185,000 spinning mills and a planned daily production capacity of 30 tons of fine-spun yarn and 25 tons of thick spun yarn, a statement by the ministry said after Minister Mahmoud Essmat went on an inspection tour at the site on Sunday.
In July 2020, Egypt’s Cotton, Spinning, Weaving and Clothing Holding signed a contract to establish the new factory for a total cost of EGP 780 (approximately $ 40 million), according to media reports.
The factory was planned to be inaugurated in March 2022, but the repercussions of COVID-19 and spillovers from the war in Ukraine delayed the opening.
The construction works and trial operation are scheduled to be completed in 2023, according to Sunday’s statement. Construction work at Ghazl-1 Factory is 80 percent complete, the Egyptian state news agency MENA reported on Saturday.
The new factory is part of a broader plan already set into motion by the Egyptian government to upgrade the public sector spinning and weaving industry at a total cost of EGP 25 billion.
The plan, under which 23 state-owned textile companies have already been merged into eight, includes developing the infrastructure of the companies concerned and obtaining advanced new machines.
It also includes developing Masr Spinning and Weaving Company by establishing six new factories, upgrading two existing ones (Ghazl 4 Factory and Ghazl 6 Factory), developing a training centre, and automating work systems, production, sales, quality, maintenance, human resources and store sectors.
The plan targets growing the company’s total production four-fold, with plans to export around 75 percent of the new production to foreign markets.
The minister also inspected the 24,000-square-metre Ghazl 4 Factory, which is being rehabilitated as part of the overhaul plan and includes nearly 71,000 spinning mills with a daily production capacity of 13.5 tons of yarn.
The facility is due to start operation in early 2023, the ministry’s statement added.
Minister Essmat also inspected Ghazl 2 Factory and Ghazl 6 Factory, which have a daily production capacity of 20 tons and 16 tons of yarn respectively.
Today’s tour was the first by the newly appointed minister of a company affiliated with his ministry.
During his tour, the minister said the project is part of a plan to upgrade public spinning and weaving companies, with a view to regaining Egypt’s leadership in this industry and maximising the value of Egyptian cotton, as well as increasing exports and employment opportunities.
The project is not meant at to compete with the private sector, but rather promotes cooperation and integration and provides the raw material needed for operation at a high quality and competitive prices in a way that serves the national industry.
Egypt’s textile manufacturing industry is the second-largest in the country. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Egypt’s textile exports shrank by 14 percent in 2020 to $2.8 billion, down from $3.7 billion in 2019, according to the Textile Exports Council.
