ATM moves into customised textile manufacturing

Owing to the growing preference of imported textile materials by Nigerian consumers, the African Textiles Manufacturers (ATM) Limited has come up with a strategy of producing only customised textiles for customers on demand and for specific occasions.

“We now produce customised clothes for our customers who have to place their orders. We do so for churches, wedding celebrants and those who wish to throw parties or have other ceremonies,’’ says a senior staff member of the company, who did not want his name in print because he was not authorised to speak.

“We used to produce and sell en masse. But the market situation, particularly imports from China made it difficult for us, because our products were often more expensive, given that our cost of production was always high,’’ the source adds.

ATM, located in Kano, North-West Nigeria, is in the business of producing African and wax prints, with brand names such as Crowntex, Duniya, Queentex, Festac, Wazobia and Abada Real Wax.

Findings show the company has large divisions for textile production such as spinning, weaving, dyeing, printing. The plant was sourced from the leaders in the textile machinery industry: spinning plant from Rieter, Zinser and Murata and Schlafhorst; weaving plant from Beninger, Sucker Muller and Sulzer; processing plant from Stork, Bruckner, Wakayama, Kyoto and Hisaka, among others.

ATM’s major raw material is cotton which is ginned in its own ginning factory. Lint produced in the process is used in spinning for manufacture of yarn, while dyes and chemicals are often imported, Real Sector Watch gathered.

“We have no problem with cotton, because we are in the North. If you have money here, you can have cotton in abundance. But our problem is poor power supply. We produce to suit the tastes of Kano residents and people from other palaces. Currently, we operate at full capacity. But imports must be cut down, while local players should be encouraged with adequate funding,’’ insists the source.