China’s Shandong Ruyi plans mega textile project in Suez Canal

Chinese textile and fashion group Shandong Ruyi signed on Sunday an agreement to build one of the biggest textile factories in the Egyptian-Chinese industrial zone in Ain Sokhna in Suez.

Located in Chinese TEDA-run Egyptian-Chinese industrial zone in Ain El Sokhna, the factory will cost around $6.2 billion. China’s TEDA Corporation, one of the oldest industrial developers in Suez Canal Economic Zone, has been developing an area of over 7 square km in Ain Sokhna district of the Suez Canal Corridor east of Cairo.

TEDA has so far attracted more than 70 enterprises, including Jushi, fiberglass giant from China.

“It (Shandong Ruyi textile factory) is the biggest project of its kind in the Middle East as it will be built over 1.2 million square metres,” Mohab Mamish, chairman of the Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZone), said after signing the deal.

Ruyi is based in a predominantly rural area of Shandong province in northern China. It has earlier this year added the 168-year-old Swiss luxury brand Bally to its rapidly growing portfolio of global brands, including the nearly 250-year-old UK suit maker Gieves & Hawkes, UK clothing maker Aquascutum, Paris-based fashion group SMCP and Italy’s Cerruti 1881.

In little more than three years, the company has also sewn up deals for cotton and wool producers in Bulgaria and Australia, as well as cloth and textile makers in Scotland.

People familiar with Ruyi told The Financial Times earlier this year that the Chinese company is positioning itself to become one of the world’s largest textile makers and a serious player in the global fashion industry over the next 10 years.