Al Karam Bedding Diversifies Product Line For Big Retailers
January 5, 2001
Karachi, Pakistan — Al Karam plans to double its weaving capacity by next May with the addition of 120-inch width Dornier air jet looms, said Iqbal Ebrahim, managing director. The additional looms will be the foundation of a new mill here called 'Orient,' Ebrahim said.
Al Karam is among Pakistan's largest mills along with Nishat, Koinoor and Gul Amed. The turnover of all Al Karam's products is over $140 million annually, with $95 million in exports, the company said. The company makes narrow-width fabrics for the local garment trade and expects to develop jacquard furnishing fabric lines for export in the future. It also specializes in yarn-dyed curtain sets including puff print on voile, which it exports to the U.S.A., Australia and Europe. "Our goal is to export finished products — not greige goods."
Ebrahim said the U.S.A. as a large market for Al Karam, enabling potentially half of his business in the future.
The 50-acre campus here houses all facilities for weaving, printing, knitting, finishing as well as cut-and-sew operations. In addition, all 7,500 workers are housed on the site. (The starting pay for a mill worker is about $120 a month; a bus ride in Karachi is about three cents.)
"Our goal is to get out of the commodity business. We do not want to be a price player."
Al Karam has been successful in developing many private label programs for American bedding specialists, including a catalog house and chains. The company's knit jersey bedding programs under a variety of private labels has been especially successful, Ebrahim said.
Until 2005, all Pakistani mills are subject to quota for sheet sets, but the quota will be removed at that time and Al Karam is gearing up for big growth in its business, up to 70% of its sales in export. Currently, it costs about $10 extra in duty to export a sheet set from Pakistan to the U.S.A. but this cost will be eliminated in 2005.
Al Karam is owned by the Telli family, one of several family dominated textile dynasties in Pakistan. These families amicably split up their holdings in 1986. As a result, different branches of the same family individually own Al Karam and Gul Amed.
"Ultimately, it will be one-world village with no quota for anyone. Everyone will have the same opportunity to export bedding," he said. "It's time to choose partners now. You can't be everywhere." The stakes loom large for mills like Al Karam where an opening order might be one-half million sheet sets from one retailer. With the lifting of quotas, all bedding producers in Pakistan expect to significantly increase export to the point where it will be 70% of all items exported from Pakistan. "Today, it is about 60% of the total export picture here," said Tariq Ikram, chairman of the Export Promotion Bureau of Pakistan.
Al Karam exports bedding to Holland, Sweden, Germany, Spain, Italy, Belgium, France, Finland, U.S.A., Canada, Russia, Korea, Switzerland, Greece, Portugal and the Middle East.
It recently was successful in its bid to sell Wal-Mart in the U.S.A., he said. "There's no quota on jersey to the States," he explained. "We came up with a knitted sheet set at a very attractive price point to meet the needs of Wal-Mart," Ebrahim said. "This was very important to us for further penetrating the U.S.A. bedding market." Other American customers include Federated and Domestications.
"We want to make what the customer wants." Al Karam's goal is to make 550-count sheeting in 60-warp and 80-weft construction, said Ebrahim. "We want to sell the world's best fabric through importers worldwide and direct to the private label maker."
Al Karam has a broad line of products featuring flannel, satins, mix-and-match prints and Egyptian cotton jersey. "We have a big product mix going into Europe today." Pakistan almost stands alone in its ability to make pigment-printed and yarn-dyed bedding on wide width looms at very attractive prices.
Unlike Turkey, it is not governed by EU regulations. Pakistan's ability to print is superior to China's currently, experts say, while China has the edge in handwork and embroidery. India has focused on narrow width power looms and handlooms in the made-ups arena - not sheets. This leaves Pakistan out in front to develop a modern bedding export industry as long as it can keep high product standards and timely delivery.
Major American mills like Springs and WestPoint Stevens are sourcing bedding lines in Pakistan today.
"Pakistan is a sizeable producer of bedding fabrics with high quality at a reasonable cost," said Bob Dale, vice president of marketing for Thomaston Mills (GA, U.S.A.). "The challenge for us in the States lies in the coordination of the different bedding components available to us from around the world," he said. He acknowledges the superior printing capability of Pakistani suppliers, but he said that "that alone will not make us successful in Pakistan. There are other factors that will ultimately determine their success in the U.S.A."
Other countries like South Africa are concerned about dumping in the local market by Pakistani mills, something that the Pakistani government is trying to control.
Al Karam is among Pakistan's largest mills along with Nishat, Koinoor and Gul Amed. The turnover of all Al Karam's products is over $140 million annually, with $95 million in exports, the company said. The company makes narrow-width fabrics for the local garment trade and expects to develop jacquard furnishing fabric lines for export in the future. It also specializes in yarn-dyed curtain sets including puff print on voile, which it exports to the U.S.A., Australia and Europe. "Our goal is to export finished products — not greige goods."
Ebrahim said the U.S.A. as a large market for Al Karam, enabling potentially half of his business in the future.
The 50-acre campus here houses all facilities for weaving, printing, knitting, finishing as well as cut-and-sew operations. In addition, all 7,500 workers are housed on the site. (The starting pay for a mill worker is about $120 a month; a bus ride in Karachi is about three cents.)
"Our goal is to get out of the commodity business. We do not want to be a price player."
Al Karam has been successful in developing many private label programs for American bedding specialists, including a catalog house and chains. The company's knit jersey bedding programs under a variety of private labels has been especially successful, Ebrahim said.
Until 2005, all Pakistani mills are subject to quota for sheet sets, but the quota will be removed at that time and Al Karam is gearing up for big growth in its business, up to 70% of its sales in export. Currently, it costs about $10 extra in duty to export a sheet set from Pakistan to the U.S.A. but this cost will be eliminated in 2005.
Al Karam is owned by the Telli family, one of several family dominated textile dynasties in Pakistan. These families amicably split up their holdings in 1986. As a result, different branches of the same family individually own Al Karam and Gul Amed.
"Ultimately, it will be one-world village with no quota for anyone. Everyone will have the same opportunity to export bedding," he said. "It's time to choose partners now. You can't be everywhere." The stakes loom large for mills like Al Karam where an opening order might be one-half million sheet sets from one retailer. With the lifting of quotas, all bedding producers in Pakistan expect to significantly increase export to the point where it will be 70% of all items exported from Pakistan. "Today, it is about 60% of the total export picture here," said Tariq Ikram, chairman of the Export Promotion Bureau of Pakistan.
Al Karam exports bedding to Holland, Sweden, Germany, Spain, Italy, Belgium, France, Finland, U.S.A., Canada, Russia, Korea, Switzerland, Greece, Portugal and the Middle East.
It recently was successful in its bid to sell Wal-Mart in the U.S.A., he said. "There's no quota on jersey to the States," he explained. "We came up with a knitted sheet set at a very attractive price point to meet the needs of Wal-Mart," Ebrahim said. "This was very important to us for further penetrating the U.S.A. bedding market." Other American customers include Federated and Domestications.
"We want to make what the customer wants." Al Karam's goal is to make 550-count sheeting in 60-warp and 80-weft construction, said Ebrahim. "We want to sell the world's best fabric through importers worldwide and direct to the private label maker."
Al Karam has a broad line of products featuring flannel, satins, mix-and-match prints and Egyptian cotton jersey. "We have a big product mix going into Europe today." Pakistan almost stands alone in its ability to make pigment-printed and yarn-dyed bedding on wide width looms at very attractive prices.
Unlike Turkey, it is not governed by EU regulations. Pakistan's ability to print is superior to China's currently, experts say, while China has the edge in handwork and embroidery. India has focused on narrow width power looms and handlooms in the made-ups arena - not sheets. This leaves Pakistan out in front to develop a modern bedding export industry as long as it can keep high product standards and timely delivery.
Major American mills like Springs and WestPoint Stevens are sourcing bedding lines in Pakistan today.
"Pakistan is a sizeable producer of bedding fabrics with high quality at a reasonable cost," said Bob Dale, vice president of marketing for Thomaston Mills (GA, U.S.A.). "The challenge for us in the States lies in the coordination of the different bedding components available to us from around the world," he said. He acknowledges the superior printing capability of Pakistani suppliers, but he said that "that alone will not make us successful in Pakistan. There are other factors that will ultimately determine their success in the U.S.A."
Other countries like South Africa are concerned about dumping in the local market by Pakistani mills, something that the Pakistani government is trying to control.
