During Egypt Stitch & Tex Expo in Cairo, Kohan Textile Journal spoke with Santi Martí, Commercial Director of ICOMATEX, and Maher, the company’s agent in Egypt, about the current state of Egypt’s textile machinery market, financing challenges, growing Chinese competition and why European machinery manufacturers are increasingly focusing on service, efficiency and long-term production performance.
Interview by Behnam Ghasemi | Kohan Textile Journal
Egypt continues to attract considerable attention from international textile machinery manufacturers. Its established textile industry, strategic location and growing presence of foreign investors have strengthened its position as an important manufacturing base in North Africa and the wider Middle East.
Yet opportunity does not necessarily translate into easy machinery sales. Textile manufacturers are increasingly sensitive to investment costs, access to financing has become a major consideration, and Chinese machinery suppliers are competing aggressively in several segments of the market.
At Egypt Stitch & Tex Expo in Cairo, Santi Martí, Commercial Director of ICOMATEX, and Maher, ICOMATEX’s agent in Egypt, discussed these changing market dynamics with Kohan Textile Journal.
ICOMATEX, based near Barcelona in Catalonia, Spain, has more than 40 years of experience in textile machinery manufacturing and a presence in more than 30 countries.
Its portfolio includes stenters, relaxation dryers, coating lines, vaporizers, polymerizers, vacuum units, and continuous washing and bleaching lines.
How would you describe the current situation in Egypt’s textile machinery market?
Santi Martí: From what I have seen, some projects are not as urgent as they were in the past. I was here previously in July, and my impression was that some customers had postponed projects.
Financing is also becoming very important. Customers are asking us whether we can help provide financing solutions for future projects. We are discussing possibilities with different insurance companies, but it is not easy.
Some customers are also looking for payment conditions similar to those they have previously received from other suppliers, including Turkish suppliers.
Maher: On the finishing side, competition is very difficult. Egypt is a very price-sensitive market, and financing has become an important part of the investment decision. So selling machinery today is not simply a question of technology; the financial side of the project also matters considerably.
Read More: Why Egypt Stitch & Tex 2026 Matters for the Global Textile Industry
Why does Egypt remain attractive despite these challenges?
Maher: First of all, Egypt has its location. It has also been involved in textiles for a very long time.
We are seeing foreign investment alongside Egyptian investment. There are Turkish companies looking at Egypt, significant Chinese investment, and Syrian manufacturers who have already been present for many years.
This combination is one of the reasons I believe the Egyptian textile industry is growing quickly.
Egypt therefore has something that is difficult to create from scratch: an existing textile culture combined with new investment interest.
How significant is the movement of Turkish textile manufacturers toward Egypt?
Maher: We are seeing many Turkish companies looking toward Egypt. There are also Chinese investors and, as mentioned, Syrian businesses that have been active here for the past 10 to 15 years.
These foreign investments are coming on top of investment by Egyptian manufacturers themselves. This is contributing to the development of the market.
For machinery suppliers, it means Egypt is becoming a market influenced not only by domestic investment decisions but also by manufacturers bringing experience and expectations from other textile-producing countries.
How strong is Chinese machinery competition in Egypt?
Maher: It depends very much on the textile sector.
Chinese machinery has become very strong in certain areas. For example, Chinese suppliers sell considerable numbers of water-jet weaving machines, and they are also becoming increasingly active in finishing machinery.
The situation is not identical in every segment. In weaving, for example, their position is different from some other sectors. But in finishing, Chinese manufacturers are improving very quickly and selling more machinery.
Do Egyptian manufacturers still prefer European textile machinery?
Maher: In terms of technology, many customers would prefer European machinery. But price has a major influence on the final decision, and because of that we are seeing more movement toward Chinese machinery.
We are talking about machinery investments that can be in the range of €400,000–€500,000. At that level, even a 10% difference in price becomes significant for the investor.
That makes the decision much more complicated than simply asking which machine has the better technology.
Santi Martí: It is very tough competition. We can offer good quality, but our price cannot necessarily be the same as a Chinese supplier.
For European manufacturers, therefore, the challenge is to demonstrate what the customer receives beyond the initial machine price.
How can a European machinery manufacturer compete when the initial investment is higher?
Santi Martí: We try to explain that we are not offering only a machine. We are also offering service and after-sales support.
One example is our EcoSmart system. The customer receives access to a platform where the machine owner can monitor information about the machine while it is operating.
They can see parameters such as machine speed, temperature, overfeeding and heat-setting conditions. Importantly, they can also monitor consumption, including electrical and gas consumption.
The information can be viewed in real time and also analysed over a selected period.
For example, an owner can look at one month of production, see how many linear metres have been produced and compare this with the energy required for that production.
This provides much more information about what is actually happening in the production process.
Why is this type of production data becoming increasingly important?
Santi Martí: Because customers need to understand their production costs.
It is not enough simply to know that a machine is running. Manufacturers increasingly need information about how it is running, what it is consuming and what it is producing.
If they can see production and consumption data over time, they have more information available to evaluate machine performance and production costs.
This is particularly relevant when energy consumption represents an important part of finishing costs.
Read More: Egypt Stitch & Tex 2026: What the Exhibition Revealed About the Future of Egypt’s Textile Industry
How important is remote technical support in reducing machine downtime?
Santi Martí: It is very important. We have programmers who can provide support to customers around the world.
Sometimes a customer needs to replace an inverter but does not know exactly how to configure it. Our team can connect remotely and guide them through the process. Once the inverter is installed and correctly addressed, the PLC can transfer the necessary information and the machine can return to operation.
There are also situations where the machine stops and the customer does not immediately understand why.
I remember one case where a customer contacted us because the machine had stopped and they believed there was a technical problem. Our technician connected remotely to check the machine.
In the end, the problem was very simple: an emergency safety button had been pressed.
Once the issue was identified, the machine could start operating again without a technician having to travel to the factory.
Can after-sales service ultimately influence the real cost of textile machinery?
Santi Martí: Yes. Reducing production interruptions and lead times is important.
A machine can have good specifications, but customers also need support when something happens during production. The ability to identify a problem quickly and bring the machine back into operation can make a considerable difference.
There are many factors involved in productivity, and service is one of them.
Is purchase price still the right way to compare European and Chinese textile machinery?
The discussion in Egypt increasingly suggests that machinery investment cannot be evaluated through purchase price alone.
For manufacturers considering a major finishing investment, the more relevant calculation may include energy consumption, production output, machine availability, technical support, spare parts, maintenance requirements and downtime over the machine’s operating life.
European machinery still faces an obvious challenge: the initial investment can be substantially higher, while Chinese manufacturers continue to improve technologically and compete aggressively on price.
But ICOMATEX believes that service, production monitoring and long-term operational support provide another basis on which machinery investment should be evaluated.
For Egyptian textile manufacturers operating in an increasingly competitive environment, this broader calculation may become particularly important.
Egypt Is Becoming a Test for the Future of European Textile Machinery
The Egyptian market illustrates a wider shift taking place across emerging textile manufacturing regions.
European machinery manufacturers can no longer rely solely on a traditional reputation for quality. Chinese suppliers are improving, financing has become more important, and manufacturers are scrutinising capital expenditure more carefully.
The competitive argument is therefore moving toward measurable operational value: energy efficiency, productivity, process control, machine uptime, remote diagnostics and after-sales support.
For ICOMATEX, this means positioning the machine as part of a wider production and service system rather than as an isolated piece of equipment.
At the same time, Egypt remains a market with significant potential. Its long textile history, strategic geographic position and combination of domestic and foreign investment continue to attract machinery suppliers from Europe, Türkiye, China and elsewhere.
The question is no longer simply whether Egypt will invest in textile manufacturing. The increasingly important question is which technologies manufacturers will choose, how those investments will be financed, and which machinery suppliers can demonstrate the strongest value over the full operating life of the machine.
