Monforts continues to gain significant repeat orders for its equipment from Pakistan’s major vertically-integrated textile manufacturers as they seek to both expand and diversify into new markets.
By Adrian Wilson
Monforts customers in the regions around Pakistan’s three biggest cities of Karachi, Lahore and Faisalabad include all of the main players in the fields of home textiles and denim production.
“These companies rely on our established technologies including Montex stentering equipment, Monfortex sanforizing units and Thermex dyeing ranges,” said Monforts Area Sales Manager Manfred Havenith.
“As they look to new markets in today’s highly competitive industry, we continue to assist them with trials and optimized processing parameters in developing advanced fabrics for a wide range of end-uses, both at their own plants and at our Advanced Technology Centre (ATC) in Germany.”
Manfred Havenith
Nearshoring
Karachi-headquartered denim powerhouse Artistic Milliners, for example, recently ordered two new Montex tenter frames, along with a new Thermex continuous dyeing range and a Monfortex sanforizing line from Monforts for its new Art Mill finishing plant.
Artistic Milliners currently has an annual production capacity of 108 million meters of fabric and 30 mil-lion garments, and fabric dyeing and finishing is naturally central to the company’s operations. It produces more than 500 shades of denim, along with applying a myriad different texture and surface treatments.
In other recent expansion and diversification initiatives, in 2020 Artistic Milliners acquired Star Fades International (SFI), a denim factory in Commerce, Calif., providing it with a strategic foothold in the United States and the capacity to meet increased demand from inter-national retailers and brands for nearshoring capacity, digital design services and sustainable solutions.
“California has historically been an important cornerstone for the international denim industry and as the first Pakistan denim company with an operational factory in Los Angeles, we are developing a state-of-the-art design and production hub based on Supply Chain 4.0 principles,” explained Murtaza Ahmed, founder of SFI and executive director at Artistic Milliners.
The demand for nearshoring in the United States continues to be driven by the need for shorter lead times, reduced carbon footprint and greater supply chain resilience. Consequently, in September 2024, Artistic Milliners announced the further acquisition of Dickies de Parras, a denim manufacturer based in Parras, Mexico, to raise its Americas production to 5 million pairs of jeans per year.
NML’s New Thermex
Geographical expansion alongside product diversification also are priorities for Lahore-headquartered home textiles leader Nishat Mills Ltd.(NML), another long-standing Mon-forts customer which is currently installing a new Thermex dyeing range — the company’s fourth.
“More than 40 Thermex continuous dyeing ranges have been installed in Pakistan in recent years and we have achieved considerable success with our Econtrol system, which is a most effective and established dyeing process,” Havenith said. “Operator training on the Econtrol process by sophisticated technologists is an additional service we provide.”
Bespoke Solutions
NML, established in 1951, also now operates eight Montex tenters and three Monfortex sanforizing units. With more than 251,800 spindles and 7,320 rotors at seven spinning units, it has a daily production capacity of 270 tons of cotton and blended yarns and produces around 30 million square meters of fabric each month on 931 modern air-jet looms.
Its fabric processing facility is one of the largest and most modern in Pakistan, with an array of bespoke machinery and the capacity to dye and fully finish an annual 104 million meters of fabric. The facility is specially designed to handle heavy weight fabrics such as twills, can-vases and poplins, as well as stretch fabrics and high-density weaves.
In recent moves, Nishat has established a wholly owned subsidiary in Türkiye as well as offices in Bangladesh and the United Kingdom, and has also acquired Denmark-based fabric maker Wernerfelt. Wernerfelt supplies performance fabrics for personal protection and workwear, specializing in flame retardant modacrylic blends made with flame-retardant properties as well as high visibility textiles, breathable, waterproof laminates and other fabrics made for industrial use.
“This collaboration heralds a new phase in the evolution of Nishat Group,” said CEO Umer Mansha.
UK Input
Workwear is also now a major business for Sapphire Textile Mills, a second Lahore-based company and Monforts Thermex customer.
Since 2021, Sapphire has been involved in Carrington Textiles International, a dyeing and finishing joint venture with the UK’s Carrington Textiles providing up to 50 million meters a year of specialized fabrics to a well-established global customer base.
(Image courtesy of Carrington)
With a legacy of more than 130-years, Carrington Textiles and its dyeing and finishing partner company Pincroft — also a Monforts customer — supply workwear and protective clothing to some of the biggest corporate companies in the world. These companies include Airbus, Arcelor Mittal, BP, BUPA, Coca Cola, Jaguar Land Rover, McDonald’s, Shell and TATA Steel. The two UK companies also supply millions of meters of fabric to the armed forces of many countries.
“Carrington Textiles International is an excellent project we are excited to be part of, and we are pleased our longstanding relationship with Carrington Textiles has developed into this joint venture,” said Sapphire’s COO Nabeel Abdullah Workwear based on high performance blended fabrics and flame-retardant materials is also now a growing sector of Sapphire’s own portfolio, alongside home textiles, sportswear and denim.
Principles
“The Monforts commitment to customer service is based on four principles — being helpful, accurate, fast and reliable,” Havenith notes in conclusion. “We have a reputation for quickly and efficiently dispatching spares and components, and online support is always available when needed.
“We have also worked with Al Ameen, our valued partner in Pakistan for over 40 years and this close cooperation, along with constant R&D and machine innovations — both in terms of productivity and energy savings — has allowed Monforts to build an 80-percent market share for stenters in Pakistan and to retain it for a number of decades. We remain dedicated to the ongoing success of our valued customers in Pakistan.”
Editor’s Note: Adrian Wilson is an England-based analyst and writer specializing in the technical textiles, nonwovens and composites industries. He is the owner of AWOL Media.
2025 Quarterly Issue II
