Nicaragua Will Begin Manufacturing Textiles

Millknit Industries, a U.S.-capital textiles company, will begin operations in Nicaragua in 2013, manufacturing fabric for apparel companies established in the country’s free zone sector.

The company will operate in the industrial park Las Mercedes, Managua, with an initial investment of US$25 million and will generate approximately 270 jobs once fully operating, according to the country’s National Free Zones Commission (CNZF).

General Alvaro Baltodano, Presidential Delegate for Investments, mentioned that the new textiles company will be devoted to developing knitting fabric for the manufacturing of T-shirts, and is expected to start production between January and February of next year.

“In the last couple of months, the company has moved in and installed its machinery while adapting its facilities to its needs, soon completing its successful installation”, mentioned General Baltodano.

Dean Garcia Executive Director of the Nicaraguan Association of Textiles and Apparel (ANITEC, for its acronym in Spanish), noted that the company will begin producing knit fabric for companies that manufacture T-shirts and then for those manufacturing casual business shirts.

According to the results of the study "Benchmarking the Competitiveness of Nicaragua’s Apparel Industry", conducted in 2011 by the consulting firm O’Rourke Group Partners, Nicaragua was found to be the single most competitive option for sourcing numerous apparel products, not just in this hemisphere, but in some cases also compared to China, Vietnam and Bangladesh.