Towellers' Breezy Expansion Goes Clean and Green

By Staff -- Home Textiles Today, 3/6/2006 12:00:00 AM

Karachi, Pakistan —

Towellers is on an expansion kick, a project that began with the launch of operations at a new greenfields facility in late 2005 and will eventually include the construction of a wind turbine power plant to cut energy costs.

The new, 625,000-sq.-ft. operation occupies 225 acres outside Karachi. It houses towel equipment from now-defunct Pillowtex's Fieldale, Va., mill as well as blanket and sheet stitching machinery. The plant has its own power generation as well as a pre- and post-waste water treatment plant.

The facility puts Towellers into the better end of the towel market, according to Sheik Mohammed Obaid, president. It can produce towels from traditional cotton yarns and specialty yarns like bamboo, soya, organic and modal.

“It will take towel quality to a totally different, up-market level,” he said. “Towellers began as an institutional supplier, then went into mass market and promotional. Now we have full market coverage.”

Once the facility is fully booked out, it should generate a minimum of $45 million in sales, he added.

Towellers is also pushing boundaries in its bedding business, which currently consists of flannel and jersey sheet sets along with some blanket and bed-in-a-bag production.

In addition to the expansion of blanket production, Towellers is constructing a state-of-the-art print mill with continuous dyeing. The dyeing is a first for the company, according to Obaid. The print mill will upgrade and expand offerings from what is available at the company's current print facility. The operation is expected to come on line in late May to early June.

Also on the agenda: backward integration into spinning.

“We are bringing all of this under one roof to provide a full-service textiles resource,” said Obaid.