Bangladesh has been working to up its synthetic fiber capabilities in recent years and now a new plant slated for setup there could make the country self-sufficient in the commodity.
Demand for polyester staple fiber, which is increasingly used in apparel and home furnishings today, is rising at a rate of 12 to 15 percent per year in Bangladesh.
Manufacturing and marketing company Deshbandhu Group has partnered with technology and engineering solutions provider Chemtex to set up Bangladesh’s first polyester staple fiber production plant, according to the Financial Express.
Once operational the plant is expected to meet 40 percent of the country’s annual polyester fiber demand.
Polyester is a key raw material for Bangladesh’s spinning mills, which currently import roughly 300,000 tons of the fiber (worth $450 million) annually.
The Deshbandhu plant’s production would mean Bangladesh could import 120,000 fewer tons of the fiber, for a savings close to $200 million. The cost of the fiber made from the coming domestic facility will be more than 20 percent cheaper than the imported version.
“As spinning mills are totally import-dependent for PSF [polyester staple fiber], the new initiative will help reduce the dependency to a large extent,” Bangladesh Industries Minister Amir Hossain Amu told the Financial Express.
Deshabandhu will invest $128.4 million to build the plant on 30 acres of land in the town of Sirajganj. An opening date has not yet been noted, but the facility is expected to directly employ 2,000 workers and supply jobs indirectly to 6,000 more.
The company’s chief financial officer M.A. Bashir Ahmed said the move to open the polyester plant will encourage other companies to follow suit to meet the fiber’s increasing demand.