Nurul Islam, managing director of Noman Group

Noman Group, one of the country's leading textile companies, is eyeing home textile and other garment exports of $180 million in the next fiscal year.
At present, the group exports home textile and other garment items to the tune of $120 million mainly to the US, UK and other European countries, according to the group's Managing Director Nurul Islam. Noman's big customers are Marks & Spencer, ASDA, a sister concern of Wal-Mart, Carrefour and Sweden-based IKEA.
The government has set a $310 million export target for the home textile segment for the current financial year. Manufacturers exported items worth $162.91 million during July-January this fiscal. In 2006-07, Bangladesh exported home textile worth $256.97 million (1 dollar = 68.70 taka approximately). The global home textile consumption was pegged at $110 billion in 2007.
Noman Group is putting in place a fashion house and a knitwear factory with investments of over Tk 300 crore, Islam said. All the required machinery had already been imported for setting up a new woven fashion items and knitwear factory, he added.
“The total investment of Noman Group is now Tk 800 crore and every month it's exporting products worth $10 million,” Islam said.
However, he declined to comment on the profit margins of his group.
“Now the group has 5 spinning mills and a dyeing and finishing mill in Gazipur, Sreepur and Tongi with 16,000 workers,” he said, adding that home textile is the main focus of the group and 8,000 workers are engaged in this segment.
Opex Group, Nassa Group and Prime Group of Industries are some of his local competitors, said Islam. Bangladesh was receiving more orders from buyers compared with countries like China, India and Pakistan, because the country was not focusing on high value customers. It is estimated that 60 percent customers are average home textile users and the rest 40 percent belong to high-value added home textile users. “As a result, Bangladesh will survive in the long run in the race,” Islam maintained.
In an interview with The Daily Star, the group's chief said the government's latest move on rationing gas will absolutely hurt the industry as dyeing and finishing are totally dependent on gas consumption.
“We have already received orders from buyers and we will have to supply the products in time. If the government takes such policies, how will the domestic manufacturers meet the schedule set by the buyers?” he questioned.
He also complained for the bad shape of infrastructures for the development of the industrial sector of the country.
Industry insiders said there is also potentiality for exporting branded home textiles from Bangladesh as most of such textile items are manufactured as per the designs supplied by the buyers.
When asked, Managing Director of Classical Home Textile Shameem Hossain said his products will go global soon as he is on a visit to Italy now with samples.
Classical Home Textile, which mainly produces bed sheets, pillow cover, side pillow and comforters for local customers, has developed its own designs and printing, Shameem said recently.