NEW YORK — Wilbur L. Ross, the chairman of International Textile Group, is getting ready to make a major move into China, he revealed to a group of importer executives on Tuesday.
It’s part of a major expansion drive for the $800 million firm, which he formed through the acquisition and merger of Burlington Industries and Cone Mills.
In the next few weeks, Ross plans to unveil investments into Chinese plants that make denim, worsted fabrics, synthetic fabrics and home-furnishings fabrics — a list that covers all of ITG’s major product categories.
With a nod toward his long-term plans for the firm, Ross said, “Within the next five to 10 years, you’ll see the creation of five or so $15 billion textile companies around the world. And we hope to be among them.”
ITG currently operates offices in Hong Kong and Shanghai, where its Burlington Worldwide unit serves as something of a sales agent for Chinese mills. Ross said that he’d initially focus on investing in mills with which ITG has done business.
While the planned Chinese investments won’t bring the company close to that target number, he said the new capacity in that country would be much larger than his planned denim mill in Guatemala City, which will produce 30 million yards of denim a year.
Ross made his comments at the joint annual meetings of the U.S. Association of Importers of Textiles & Apparel and the American Import Shippers Association. Ross also noted that he’d trimmed some $40 million out of the annual cost structure of ITG’s operations since acquiring them, and pumped about $30 million into research for the company’s Nanotex nanotechnology unit.