Business

WestPoint Home to invest US$9 mln in Bahrain unit expansion

WestPoint Home (WPH), a global marketer and manufacturer of home products, has announced an investment of US$ 9 million in the third phase expansion of its manufacturing complex in Bahrain.

The announcement followed the recent meeting beween WPH senior officials and the Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, Zayed R Alzayani. Officials from the American Chamber of Commerce Bahrain (AmCham) also were present.

The meeting also discussed how WPH will mitigate the impact of the potential expiration of the Tariff Preference Level (TPL) that allows duty-free access for textile exports from Bahrain to the US.

“The third phase expansion project will increase spinning capacity by 38%. Spinning more yarn in Bahrain will decrease lead times, increase flexibility and will, along with other initiatives help to mitigate the impact of the anticipated TPL expiration mid 2016 and will allow the company to continue to import Bahrain manufactured textile product into the USA duty-free,” said Normand Savaria, president and CEO.

“The support that we have been provided from various ministries of the Bahraini government as we conduct our business activities and implement these expansion projects and hire and train both foreign and local employees has given us the confidence to continue to build out our manufacturing base in Bahrain and increase our imports to the US by 15 per cent just last year. We look forward to our future in Bahrain,” he said.

The company will have invested more than US$ 25 million in expanding capacity, capabilities and environmental projects over the past three years including additional weaving, the spinning projects, expansion of manual and automatic sewing and embroidery capacity at the conclusion of this project, said the statement.

WestPoint Home manufactures and sells products globally to leading retail and hospitality customers under popular owned brands including Martex, Vellux, Grand Patrician, Patrician, Luxor, Utica, Modern Living and Nostalgia.

Under licensing agreements, the company produces and distributes products under the brands Rachel Ashwell, Southern Tide, Izod, Jill Rosenwald, Collier Campbell, Portico, Under the Canopy, Amy Sia, Bini Chic, Dena Home and Haute Girls, Downtown Abbey, Kathy Davis and Shell Rummel.