Page 59 - New Cloth Market November 2022 Digital Edition

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS PAGES

universities in Barcelona and Sao Pau- invested US$73 million in the first pro- the region and that this will increase
lo, among others. Elcatex produces duction and commercial plant for syn- the resilience of the U.S. supply chain.
knitted fabrics and cut pieces and en- thetic filament or yarn, with a capacity It is expected that this will be a great
gages in full package programs. In 2018 of 25,000 tons/year. This plant brings opportunity to leverage supply chains
its spinning capacity was 500,000 together the efforts of the largest tex- outside China and Asia.
square feet and its production capaci- tile groups in the region.
In April 2022, the National Congress
ty was two million pounds per week.
According to Unitexa's director, the raw of Honduras “…unanimously repealed
The company has vertical production materials produced would be destined the Special Development and Employ-
capacity, from yarn to garment, for polo for Guatemala, El Salvador and Hon- ment Zones5 completely eliminating
shirts, t-shirts, underpants, and box- duras, and the finished product would them from the country's regulations,
ers. It engages in dyeing, finishing, be exported to the US for brands such including the constitutional reform that
printing, cutting, sewing, packaging and as Adidas and Nike. Filament is main- approved and ratified them, a law that
complete logistics. They have 99 sew- ly used in sportswear and other gar- had been approved in 2013”. With this
ing lines that produce 78,000 dozen of ments that require more resistance than measure, all acts, contracts, conces-
garments per week, the fabric comes those made with cotton. Three facto- sions, or regulations related to the
from 500 weaving machines operated ries have been planned, the first one ZEDEs are no longer legally valid. The
by the company. Dyeing is performed will produce polyester and nylon fila- next step for the complete repeal to
on 43 machines also operated by the ments, the second one will convert take effect is its ratification by the leg-
company. The company is certified by those inputs into fabric, and the third islature in 2023, its subsequent sanc-
Worldwide Responsible Accredited one will manufacture the finished gar- tion, and its publication in the official
Production (WRAP) and Hohenstein to ments. gazette” (La Prensa, 2022). We will
meet Oeko-Tex Standard 100 class II have to wait for the evolution of these
The 2017 investment amounted to
product requirements. actions to evaluate the impacts it will
US$73 for the first plant, an investment
have on the manufacturing industry.
Industrialist Jesús Canahuati indicates of US$120 will follow for the textile
that Honduras needs around US$3 bil- plant and an as yet undetermined sum The textile sector was boosted by the
lion in investment over the next five will then be invested in the third plant, previous government's Honduras 20/
years to develop and innovate the in- according to businessman Jesús 20 National Economic Development
dustry and points out that it is invest- Canahuati (La Prensa Honduras, 2017). Program. Honduran companies are
ing jointly with other Central American The plants are located in Coloma, 16 applying an environmentally-friendly
companies and breaking with the par- kms from San Pedro Sula and 40 kms business model. These practices have
adigm that every country in the region from Puerto Cortés. been gaining relevance over the years,
wants to be a metropolis (Forbes, 2019). now consumers are more concerned
These plants were established with
Some of the innovations that the in- about the social and environmental
investments from Asia (Korea), Europe
dustry is working on is the use of re- practices implemented to manufacture
(Spain) and America (Honduras, Gua-
cycled materials as a strategy to re- the goods they consume.
temala, and Brazil) at a time when
duce industrial costs and to reduce
there was an opportunity with the US Companies such as Elcatex, accord-
pollution from chemicals and salts gen-
because the Trump Administration ini- ing to its owner Jesús Canahuati, work
erated by the industry.
tiated the trade rift with China. The fi- with government initiatives such as the
The Grupo Elcatex plant in Choloma, ber plant marks the expansion of the Honduras 20/20 plan to develop social
in the San Juan Innovation Park Indus- textile and apparel industry in Hondu- housing, under which 2,000 homes
trial Park, has 107,000 square meters ras, which had been previously con- have been built and plans have been
of construction and it required an ini- strained by the lack of synthetic raw made for future expansion. These
tial investment of US$240 million. The materials. homes can be purchased by workers
first stage includes a cotton-spinning under favorable conditions.
The dynamism in the industry contin-
and blending plant, a textile plant, and
ues, with investments such as the one According to the Honduran Secretari-
an electricity generating plant with a
announced by Parkdale Mills, a North at of Economic Development, the
57-MW capacity. As part of this invest-
Carolina-based yarn spinning compa- ZEDEs are areas of the national terri-
ment, three kilometers of road were
ny, which will install a spinning plant in tory subject to a “special regime” in
paved to provide access to the project.
Honduras in 2022 with an investment which investors would be in charge of
Honduras proposed a plan to develop of US$150 million and is expected to fiscal policy, security, and conflict res-
industrial zones focusing mainly on the generate approximately 500 jobs. This olution, among other responsibilities.
textile sector, with the support of the company expects the investment will This would imply the establishment of
“Honduras 20/20” program4. In 2017, enable customers to purchase one security bodies within the ZEDEs, in-
Unitexa (United Textiles of America) million pounds of yarn per week within cluding their own police force, crime

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