Textile

Middle East Fabric Industry: From Silk Road To Textile Hub

Fashion

Introduction

As the Middle East has developed, it has become a major centre for the global fabric industry.
You can find a huge number of fabric manufacturers or companies here. Many cities in what is now Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon were major hubs for silk fabric commerce and production, proving that the Arab world was an integral element of the legendary Silk Road. A few centuries later, the Mena area was once again a major hub for the textile industry. Specifically, the textile industries of seven nations are being developed in order to make them capable for global level.

Jordan

In the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), Jordan is a major textile production centre. FTA
has identified almost 50 textile manufacturing units in two distinct areas of Jordan: Amman’s
Industrial City and Zarqa. These businesses ship their wares to marketplaces all over the world.
Those factories provide Jordan an advantage over its Middle Eastern manufacturing
competitors by producing a wide variety of garments for some of the world’s best-known brands.

Since 2010, the textile sector in the Hashemite Kingdom has been expanding rapidly, and
garment exports currently make over 20% of GDP. Numerous American clothing labels,
including Calvin Klein, Gap, Hanes, Eddie Bauer, Levi’s, Tommy Hilfiger, and Victoria’s Secret,
have factories in the desert parks around Amman. A few of big size retail shops in the United
States, including Macy’s, Sears, Kmart, and Walmart, have also identified Jordan as a key
manufacturing centre. The JGATE reports that in 2020, Jordan exported $1.52 billion worth of textiles and textile goods, 90% of which went to the US.

Syria

Before the Civil War, Syria was a major centre for textile production. In its heyday, Aleppo,
Syria’s biggest city and industrial centre, employed thousands of people and was home to more
than 500 textile factories. The textile sector in Syria accounted for 45 percent of non-oil exports
and 30 percent of employment in 2009, two years before the outbreak of civil war. As of that
time, the textile industry in Syria was worth about $2 billion.
It is believed that roughly 70% of Syria’s 24,000 registered textile factories had to shut as a
consequence of the war despite the fact that the sector survived the first few years of the
conflict. This led to the layoff of thousands of people. As 2018 came to a conclusion, several
businesses in Aleppo that had survived the continual bombing attacks were forced to shut down
owing to a scarcity of raw materials. There is a critical shortage of several commercial and
industrial resources in Aleppo’s industries and marketplaces, notably textiles, fabrics, dying, and
yarn. The fate of Syria’s textile sector is now unknown. Syria’s once-thriving textile industry seems
doomed to extinction. And half of its people are either living as refugees abroad or internally displaced.

UAE

The United Arab Emirates relies heavily on the oil and tourist industries. However, the textile
industry is a vital sector, ranking second only to oil for revenue and employment in the UAE.
Main production facilities are located in two cities: Dubai Textile City and Jebel Ali Free Zone.
Emirate’s second site, is one of the greatest textile centres in the world. And is home to the
largest textile mill in the Middle East, with an output of 10,000 tonnes of cotton yarn. The
manufacturing facilities are located in the Emirate of Fujairah’s tax-free zone, the Fujairah Free
Zone. In addition, the Port of Fujairah provides fast access to the Gulf of Oman and the Indian
Ocean. It is also facilitating the rapid export of the many textile products manufactured in the
free zone. Knitwear fabric, which makes up about half of UAE textile output, is the most popular product. The home market is rather healthy, and the textiles are also exported to more than 50 nations.

Algeria

The textile industry in Algeria is a major economic sector. The massive North African nation
takes great pleasure in serving as an exporter’s gateway to Europe. Plus, with a population of
over 42 million, there is a sizable potentiaEgyptl customer base for the country’s textile and apparel
exports right at home.
A massive new plant is being constructed by the Algerian government and the Taypa textile firm
of Turkey in an industrial zone to the east of Oran under the name Tayal. For all of Europe and
the Eastern Mediterranean, this textile factory will be the biggest of its type. The factory’s first
phase is already complete, and it employs 2,000 people from 10 different countries. Upon
completion of all facilities, anticipated for 2021, the facility will employ 25,000 people, with half of
all output destined for export. Producing "cotton from fibre to denim, non-denim, knitted, shirting
fabric and garments" is Tayal’s primary manufacturing goal.

Morocco

When compared to other MENA countries, Morocco’s textile industry is among the most
advanced and prosperous. Particularly popular are the country’s denim goods, which bring in an
astonishing $600 million a year. The textile industry in the North African nation presently
accounts for 25% of exports and 7% of GDP. An astounding one billion garments are
manufactured in the nation each year.
Morocco’s primary textile market is Spain, where 61% of all clothing exports go. This is followed
by France, where 20% of clothing exports go. Besides the United States, Germany, Italy, and
the United Kingdom are all major export markets. Morocco has a competitive advantage in the
textile industry. The reason behind is its free trade agreements and its proximity to Spain across
the Mediterranean. Further, its cheap labour costs make it a more appealing investment
destination than EU textile manufacturing competitors like Poland.

Egypt

The textile industry is Egypt’s most important economic driver. There are approximately 7,000
textile and clothing manufacturers in the nation, employing around 1.5 million people (half of
them are women) and producing an amazing 500 million items per day. The cotton grown in
Egypt is so valuable that it has earned the nickname "white gold" in the business world. There is a widespread belief that this particular kind of extra-long staple cotton is superior to all others. The Egyptian textile industry is vertically integrated and characterised by a complete process
that starts with cotton farming and extends to the manufacturing of yarn, fabric, and finished
garments.

Conclusion

Textile industry of the Middle East has flourished since its encounter with the silk road. There
are a number of fabrics which are majorly produced in the gulf countries. Materials like muslin
silk, taffeta silk fabric, and sustainable organic cotton fabric are some examples.
If you are looking for an authentic fabric manufacturer and suppliers in the middle east then
fabriclore online store is a must place to visit. Here, you can get a huge variety of fabric
products ranging from cotton, silk, denim, muslin, linen and many more.

See also: Fashion

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