The US $ 60 billion worth global denim jeans market attracts many companies to get a piece of it, and Jamuna Group, though one of the biggest vertically-integrated companies in Bangladesh with large capacities across the value chain from spinning to garmenting and washing, is set to upscale its capacities across the chain. Sumaiya Rozalin Islam, Director of the company is confident that denim has a lot of potential and Bangladesh has the wherewithal to be a big supplier of denim to the world. The company has already started the process of expansion with additional 500 looms to meet the demands which are projected to come into the country in the next few years. “We are already big in Bangladesh, but we want to be the biggest in Asia,” says Rozalin.
With 5 spinning mills, having weaving capacity of 2.5 million yards per month and 50 lines for garmenting to produce 40,000 pieces per day, textile is a major thrust vertical of the highly reputed Jamuna Group with multiple business interest including the Jamuna Future Park, which is considered the largest shopping Mall in South Asia and 3rd largest Mall in the world and also J.W. Marriot Dhaka which is set to open in 2018. Jamuna Group, established by Md. Nurul Islam (Chairman) in 1974, entered the fashion textile business in 1994. With its strong and firm belief in sustainable fashion – an aspect very strictly adhered to in all its projects, Jamuna’s textile divisions have grown tremendously over the years. Today the company works with buyers like Tesco, Primark, Walmart, Next, Bershka, Mango, Pull & Bear, Arcadia to name a few.
Upbeat on the possibilities of growth over the next decade in denim, Jamuna is adding another 500,000 spindles, to be operational in 8 months. This investment will position the company among the biggest spinning mills in Asia and give them the strength to not only work in huge volumes, but also experiment at spinning stage for innovative yarns for mass market. “We are not looking to feed the Versace and Gucci’s of the world, but provide differential products to the mass market and for that we are simultaneously creating capacities and building R&D strengths,” says Rozalin. In fact, the ability of product development at every stage is one of the biggest USP of the company. “Today buyers prefer to work with companies that can aid their quest for uniqueness from spinning stage to garmenting where production lead time is a concern and we have capabilities to offer innovation at each stage of denim development,” adds Rozalin. “Quality product and shorter lead time are the major keys of Jamuna,” further adds Rozalin.
Combining innovation with flexibly in product and quantity offered, Jamuna is confident to capture a larger share in the fast growing denim market with an increase in its garmenting capacity by another 30 lines. The intent is to offer the state-of-the-art facility to the fast fashion retailers who can take advantage of the quickest lead time offered by the vertically-integrated manufacturing facility. “Currently, our products are more for the European market, but we are now targeting the US market, and by the end of the year we hope to have equal share in both markets,” avers Rozalin. While Europe takes up 70 per cent of the company’s total production, the US market accounts for 30 per cent in the current scenario.
The company manufactures ladies and men’s high fashion jeans, casual garments and dyed bottoms, the range includes a wide profile of products, from heavy-washed ripped jeans to super-soft product lines. “Though 2015 was quite challenging due to the EURO crisis but being a vertically-integrated manufacturer, we were able to offer attractive prices to all our clients, which kept us relevant and now with the expansions our competitiveness will increase manifolds,” concludes Rozalin.
