Chinese company Huaren Linen Group is going to invest in Bangladesh jointly with Anwar Group, one of the veteran and oldest company of Bangladesh, for linen fabric dyeing and finishing. When different Chinese companies are confused on investing in Bangladesh for fabric dyeing and finishing, as there are some difficulties in a new project like setting up new product range, process range etc., Huaren Linen Group is showing them a path. For huge fabric demand in Bangladesh’s apparel industry, the second largest exporters in the world, and reducing lead-time for Bangladeshi manufacturers many Chinese companies want to expand their business in Bangladesh. Who are thinking and trying to invest in Bangladesh can come up with any existing company in Bangladesh to invest like Huaren Linen Group.

To set up fabric dyeing and finishing unit is tough for a Bangladeshi company as experts and technology are not available here, however, when a Bangladeshi company gets an offer from an expert like Huaren Linen Group, it is good for both sides. And the joint project of Huaren Linen Group and Anwar group is going to be a very good model, which could be followed by others to solve the prevailing problems.

Huaren Linen Group, starting from Harbin city, the hometown of China’s modern linen industry, is a large vertically-setup linen supplier including spinning, yarn dyeing, greige goods weaving and finishing for yarn dyed fabric. Since 2006, Huaren Linen Group is doing linen fabric business with Bangladesh. They were exporting fabric from China to Bangladesh. They started their Bangladesh office in 2015.

Anwar Group is one of the renowned groups in Bangladesh started in 1834. They have spinning, weaving, and processing units. They are doing two types of weaving: terry towels and kitchen towels, also the fashion related fabrics. In the processing house, they have yarn dyeing, fabric dyeing, and terry towels.

Recently China government has decided not to increase textile business and last year they shut down a lot of dyeing factories. Therefore, Chinese businessmen want to shift the business from China to Bangladesh and in this continuation, Huaren Linen Group is beginning dyeing production in Bangladesh from the end of this year or from the beginning of next year.

“We needed to find our best partner in Bangladesh. For the last two years, I was working on this issue. Finally, 8 months back we signed a contract with Hossain Mehmood, MD of Anwar group and we are on the way to finalize everything,” said Mir Shahed Chowdhury, Managing Director of Huaren Linen Group Bangladesh, said to Textile Today reporter.

“When we will start dyeing in Bangladesh, we can give support to our customer in terms of lead-time. Every buyer is asking for short lead-time. We can deliver to the factories within 30 days after the booking. Therefore, within 40 days they can deliver the garments,” said Mir Shahed Chowdhury while explaining how the dyeing mill will help their customers.

The market of linen fabric in Bangladesh is increasing rapidly. Every year Bangladesh has requirement of more than 15 million meters of linen fabric. However, until now, linen is not produced in Bangladesh. Because for the dyeing of linen fabric special machines are required, those are unavailable in Bangladesh.  Huaren Linen Group and Anwar group have come to a decision that they will buy some machines for dyeing.

“Definitely every plan should have a TNA and Huaren Linen Group had also the same. Huaren Linen Group had a plan to set up an office in Bangladesh at first. We had a plan for dyeing.  After that, we will go for spinning, weaving and garmenting of the linen fabric in Bangladesh. We have already started our office in Bangladesh a few years back. The dyeing project of linen fabric is also going to be started within a very short time with Anwar Group. After that, we will start spinning, weaving and garments. When Huaren Linen Group will start all the projects together, nobody will be able to compete with us,” Said Shahed Chowdhury.

“Before signing the agreement, we have also worked out to understand the feasibilities whether the project is a viable project or not. We found that this is a very much viable project. We do not have the technology. Garment manufacturers are importing the fabric from different sources. If they can get the fabric from the local market, they will definitely source it from here. On the other hand, they will also be able to satisfy their customers for the short lead-time also for the assurance of the quality. Our main target was to grab this opportunity,” said Hossain Mehmood, MD of Anwar Group.

“First of all, we should give technical support to Anwar Group. Our technical team will be in the factory. They will teach the local people how to dye the linen fabric properly. Besides these, we will share with them all the recipes we have and all kind of information regarding chemical. We will share with them what kinds of chemicals are needed to be used for linen fabric dyeing. We will give them technical support in all possible ways,” Mir Shahed Chowdhury said to Textile Today while explaining how Huaren Linen Group will be supporting Anwar Group.

The amount of fabric Bangladesh is importing from China is around 4-5 million meters and the yearly requirement for the linen fabric is around 15 million yards per year.

“Actually, we do not have the target to capture the entire market requirement at this moment. However, initially, we will try to produce 15 million meters per year. For the invest, I want to say that we have already our dyeing project. Few technologies will come from China. I think investment for this is going to be around 30 million dollars,” he continued.

The project could be helpful for transformation because it is building a supply chain, making the process easier for the garment factories. It is very much appreciated that Huaren Linen and Anwar group is producing something that is going to serve the demand not only in Bangladesh but also in the region. It is a good learning for the other companies also. Once more, it is another value-added products.