Uzbekistan to build 21 textile mills
- Written by Dilshod Ashurmatov
TASHKENT, February 22 (TCA) — The national light industry company, Uzbeklegprom, will commission 21 new textile mills worth US $180.8 million in 2013, according to the company.
The total capacity of the new mills will be 37,700 tons of cotton yarn, 24.9 million meters of fabric, 4,000 tons of knitted fabric, 23.8 million pairs of socks and hosiery products, 16.5 million pieces of knitwear products, and 120 tons of raw silk. The opening of the new mills will create 3,700 jobs. Projects are financed through loans from Uzbek banks and direct foreign investment.
Currently, Uzbekistan’s textile industry can process 450,000 tons of cotton fiber, produce 350,000 tons of cotton yarn, 160 million square meters of cotton fabrics, and 65,000 tons of knitted fabric annually.
According to Uzbeklegprom, since the beginning of the 1990s, approximately $1.8 billion in foreign investments was attracted to the industry, and more than 150 projects were implemented. However, according to experts, low-quality cotton fabric produced in Uzbekistan is mainly used for the production of bedclothes and some kinds of household clothing.
In the period from 2006 to 2011, a number of foreign investors acquired the assets of Uzbek textile mills for a total of approximately $300 million.
In the period between 2011 and 2015, Uzbeklegprom is going to implement 106 projects in the textile industry worth $1.6 billion, which will enable them to process up to 70 percent of the cotton fiber in the country.
