Egypt textile and carpet industries

by Laila El Refai

Cairo's fashion scene is full of new, hip fashion designers. NAS Trends is one such hip and young newcomer to the fashion scene, but NAS offers something different: A decidedly dudely take on boutique clothing. NAS was started by four university students, Anas Tolba, Ahmed Reda, Mohammed Salem and Karim Mourad, who were joined by Ahmed Mostafa, also a student, six months later. And they make the quintessential university clothing: T-shirts. The idea behind NAS, which means "people" in Arabic, was born when the four friends decided they wanted to start some kind of business that would add value to their community and help them make a little cash. Their idea became a reality last June.

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http://www.almasryalyoum.com/en/news/nas-trends-preserving-egyptian-cult...

CAIRO, Oct 25 (Reuters) - Egypt's Oriental Weavers (ORWE.CA) plans to acquire three Belgian textile factories to benefit from their machinery and equipment, Egypt's Al-Mal financial newspaper said on Sunday.

Oriental Weavers, the world's biggest machine-woven carpet producer, will sign the acquisition contracts before the end of the year, the newspaper said. It added that Chief Executive Officer Mohamed Khamis did not disclose the acquisition cost. The purpose of the investment is to utilise the factories' machinery and equipment, which Oriental Weavers will move to its Egyptian factories after signing the contracts, the newspaper said.

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http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssFinancialServicesAndRealEstateNews/id...

Egypt’s cotton is prized around the world for its quality, but its textile and ready-made garment sectors don’t enjoy the same reputation. While Egypt is only one player in the fast-moving global textile industry, it has the potential to attract further investment and capitalize on current trends in the migratory apparel industry.

BY LOUIS WASSER

Egypt may be famous for its cotton, but it certainly isn’t famous for its textile industry. It’s more likely that the shirt on your back was made abroad than here, but Egypt does have a significant domestic textile industry, and a large part of it is composed of the ready-made garment (RMG) sector.

There is a great deal of potential for Egypt to expand this sector. RMG production is a globetrotting industry, with producers moving from one country to the next. Apparel producers often jump from one location to another, seeking favorable conditions such as market access and the presence of cost-effective labor in order to maximize profitability. Beginning in 2005, all WTO members completely did away with quota systems that limited the amount of imported garments from any one country.

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http://www.amcham-egypt.org/Publications/BusinessMonthly/July%2009/cover...

Rising protectionism in the U.S. and Europe is squeezing the global textile industry.
By Jeffrey Fleishman
LA Times - March 20, 2009

As whispers of protectionism began to unsettle the export-import business, Oriental Weavers, one of the world's largest carpet makers, reset its looms and recast its prices to compete in an increasingly bargain-conscious U.S. market. The Cairo-based company fared relatively well over an 18-month period as the U.S. housing crisis spread and oil prices soared. But its sales to America have since slipped, forcing it to look toward emerging markets in Asia and former Soviet republics. This comes as rising protectionist sentiments in Washington and Europe have added new pressure to the already strained international textile industry.

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http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-egypt-protectionism2...

By Heba Elkayal
High quality leather bags made only from local resources are the new talk of town, thanks to Nadia Zurkani, whose Maadi workshop has revived the production of and the demand for the trendy made-in-Egypt brand, Nuniz. Zurkani — known to friends and family as Nuniz — wants to fill a gap in the Egyptian leather goods market, a market which once competed with the Italian leather and leather goods industry.

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http://www.thedailynewsegypt.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=20208

CAIRO, Jan 29 (Reuters) - Egypt's Oriental Weavers (ORWE.CA), the world's biggest machine-woven carpet producer, will cut prices on exports to the United States and eastern Europe by around 10 to 15 percent to boost market share. Declining oil prices had reduced the cost of polypropylene, the company's main raw material, investor relations manager Haitham Abdel Moneim said on Thursday, and Oriental Weavers saw an opportunity to reduce prices as an incentive to buyers.

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http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssFinancialServicesAndRealEstateNews/id...

By Safaa Abdoun
Daily News Egypt - January 16, 2009

As you stroll down most high-end department stores on a trip abroad, it’s not uncommon to find the label marked “100% Egyptian Cotton” in the linens section. It is also not uncommon to do a double-take when your eyes catch the shockingly high price tag. “The term Egyptian cotton refers to the extra long staple cotton grown in Egypt and favored for the luxury and up-market brands worldwide,” explains Wikipedia.

But if Egypt is the place the whole world turns to for quality cotton, then why is it so hard to find high-quality cotton products locally? Aspiring young entrepreneur Aya Akel wanted to redress the imbalance when she founded her company Aya Home Textiles three years ago.

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http://dailystaregypt.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=19130