OW Adding Production in Mid-2010

Cairo, Egypt, Jan. 6, 2010--Oriental Weavers will begin production at its $238 million industrial complex in the second half of 2010.

The company said it hopes to add capacity within the second half of 2010.

The company said in 2008 it would delay production at the new industrial complex from mid-2009 to 2010 due to the global financial crisis.

The first production phase would add an annual capacity of 3.5 million metres of carpet, he said.

OW is the world's largest machine-woven carpet maker.

The company now has a total annual production capacity of 100 million meters.

Egyptian Propylene and Polypropylene Company (EPPC), a subsidiary of investment arm Orientals Holding, will also start production at its $680 million complex in mid-2010.

It would have an annual production capacity of 350,000 metric tonnes of polypropylene, Oriental Weavers's main raw material.

Oriental Weavers now has an 11 percent stake in Oriental Petrochemicals Company (OPC), currently the sole producer of polypropylene in Egypt and which supplies the company with 90 percent of its polypropylene needs. OPC has an annual production capacity of 160,000 metric tonnes, he said on Monday.