Pakistani textile company
Sapphire Textile Mills is a subsidiary of Sapphire Group (Urdu: سفائر), which is a Pakistani vertically integrated textile manufacturer, producing cotton yarn, fabric, and finished garments.[2] It is based in Lahore, Pakistan.[3]
History
Sapphire's origins goes back to a leather business founded by Haji Muhammad Din in Dhaka.[4] Haji Muhammad Din was born in Chiniot to a family of farmers, but due to economic hardship, the family transitioned from farming to the leather trade.[4] He started with limited resources and expanded his business to Calcutta and Chittagong, involving his four sons in the growing business.[4] Under Haji Muhammad Din's leadership, the business flourished and became one of the largest exporter of raw leather in British India, with agents in major cities such as New Delhi, Lucknow, Kanpur, and Amritsar.[4]
After the partition of India in 1947 and the family moved to Dhaka.[4] In 1951, Haji Muhammad Din died after a brief illness and the family struggled to manage the labor-intensive leather business and eventually transitioned to trading yarn between Dhaka and Karachi in 1953.[4]
By the early 1960s, the family had established a stable yarn business and opened their first textile mill in Jessore, East Pakistan, in 1961.[4] As Bengali nationalism grew, the family decided to invest in West Pakistan and established a spinning mill in Bahawalpur in 1966.[4] Political instability in East Pakistan led the family to move to Karachi in 1970, where they acquired the Sapphire Textile Mill in Kotri, Sindh, in 1971, and later used it as the group identity.[4]
In 2003, Sapphire made an equity investment of Rs300 million in the unlisted associated company, Sapphire Finishing Mills Limited.[5]
In 2009, Sapphire invested 980,000 Danish krone in Beirholms Sapphire A/S, a company registered in Denmark.[6]
In 2014, the retail division of the company, Sapphire Retail, was founded by Nabeel Abdullah.[7] Sapphire's retail sector began as a women's apparel brand but quickly grew into a lifestyle brand with products ranging from cosmetics, menswear, children's garments, accessories and linen.[8]
Sapphire has also diversified into the power generation and dairy sectors. Sapphire Dairies operates a mechanized dairy farm based on 100 acres near Manga, Lahore, and Sapphire Electric Company has a combined cycle plant in Muridke.[9]
Production plants
Sapphire operates three spinning production plants, located in Kotri, Nooriabad, and Kasur; one weaving plant in Sheikhupura; and one stitching plant in Sheikhupura.[1]
Subsidiaries
References
