Manama Textile Mills (MTM) is setting up an additional spinning mill to meet the yarn requirements for the production of denim, greige cloth and home furnishing material and work wear.

The new facility, which will cost around $16 million, joins two other spinning mills and three weaving mills at the MTM complex. In March of 2005, the company commenced production of denim fabrics, and followed that up four months later with the manufacture of sheet sets comprising bed linen and other home furnishing items.
MTM corporate manager Naved Qari said both lines are working at full capacity and with demand growing the necessity was felt to make provision for additional capacity.
The entire output of denim fabrics is exported with Turkey, Europe and the US being particularly good markets. The company is producing to capacity, which is about 1.5 million metres per month in 150 varieties. The manufacture of high-fashion denim garments for the international market is earmarked for 2006 under its Vision 2006 programme.
MTM expects to exceed the target of 1.5 million metres or 600,000 sheet sets per month by the end of the first anniversary of production for that line. “Sheet sets are doing brilliantly in European markets, which account for 60 per cent of the sales, and the remainder is exported to the US,” said Qari. “We have some of the most prestigious clients such as Macys and Springs.”
MTM, the largest company of its kind in the Middle East, was set up in 1995 by Pakistani expatriate Hamid Nishat and today boasts the highest investment for a fully private operation. Nishat serves as CEO.  Ameena Nishat, the chairperson of MTM, heads the in-house design studio with state-of-the-art design tools to develop concepts and themes for the home furnishing sector. According to Qari, the investment to date at MTM is around $150 million, the figure only covering projects completed.  Until March of 2005, it only made yarn and wove raw fabric. The production of denim fabrics and sheet sets marks the first step in a diversification process and makes it the first vertical player in the Middle East undertaking the manufacture of yarn and greige fabric all the way to the production of denim cloth and sheet sets/made ups.
By vertical integration and expansion, the company aims to achieve annual sales of $250 million by the end of 2007. The $250 million target represents a significant increase in export sales from a level of around $100 million in 2004, which rose from $67 million in 2003.
“Our denim and fabric processing units have been set up to enhance business relations and prospects not only with the US and the EU but also with China and South Asian countries,” says Qari.
The recent Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Bahrain and the US has encouraged the company to invest in expansion. The FTA will put MTM at a distinct advantage over its competitors in countries such as China, India and Pakistan.
“The FTA will bring about special benefits to the textile sector in Bahrain, to MTM because of its vertical operations and to international companies which will be looking for industrial investment prospects in Bahrain,” said Qari.
“It will open the US market for yarn greige fabrics and finished products including bed sheet sets and denim garments. The duty waiver in the US markets for goods imported from Bahrain will help in setting off the price margin in terms of cheap labour and cost effective and efficient availability of raw materials, which will not only benefit MTM but also its buyers and clients.
“A duty-free import of cotton from the US will result in higher profitability and more cost-effective production.”
To make itself competitive, MTM has invested in extensive automation with state-of-the-art European machinery. The outcome is that not only is the final product of world-class quality the cost of production is also brought down appreciably.
 For instance, by merely automating the cut and sew operation, MTM lowered its labour requirements by at least 1,400.
At the sheet sets processing facility, greige fabric is passed through a desizing machine supplied by Benninger. The sizing material is recovered using the latest German-made PVA recovery system and the operation leads to a big savings in sizing chemicals. The fabric is then bleached in the pre-treatment process before passing through a mercerizng range with Benninger machines. As these machines consume large quantities of caustic soda, the company has installed a caustic recovery system supplied by GTV. The material then passes through a stenter frame range of Monforts before dyeing or printing. MTM uses a Monforts dry dyeing machine called pad thermosole and a pad steam Benninger dyeing and wasing range. Other equipment used is a Monforts finishing stenter frame range to fix the fabric, a Brockner sanforising range for controlling fabric shrinkage, a rotary printing machine from Reggiani, a fully automatic Termoelettronica colour kitchen for colour definition and mixing, an Arioli steamer/curing machine, a raising machine supplied by Lafer, a calendaring machine from Italy’s Ramisch Guarneri and automatic fabricant Texpa of Germany.
Qari described the process mill as a unique project for the Middle East, saying it was set to play a vital role in putting Bahrain on the map as a top-of-the-line supplier of bed linen sheets and other textile home furnishing products.
Equipment at the denim plant includes machines from Morrison, Mccoy-Ellison and Sulzer. More than 250 kinds of denim fabrics are manufactured.
Commenting on the making of denim fabrics, Qari said: “We make denims in almost all weaves, shades and weights. Denim quality is determined by its weight and the wash. Treatment with different washes has to be done with great expertise as one wrong move would spoil everything. We have the best technical support staff and gadgets. We are very quality conscious and we have experts handling all processes – from the weaving of the cloth to the final shape.
“The weaving effect and appearance are of the finest quality. A less sophisticated company would not come up with that result. Also, only the finest, ‘A’ grade cotton is used, imported from West Africa and Egypt.”
For the first time, MTP will be participating in Heimtextil 2006, the world’s largest textile fair, to be held from January 11 to 14 in Frankfurt, Germany.