Costs drive textile producer out
01/12/2008
Increased production costs in Mauritius have forced Socota Textile Mills to close its facility in Phoenix, 15 kilometres form the capital, Port Louis, and relocate it in Madagascar.
The company said currency fluctuations meant it faced extra production costs of $3.5 million for 2008, which it said it could not afford to sustain.
But Socota also wants to integrate its production chain more fully, and will locate its textile mill close to a finished garment facility that it already runs in Madagascar, a move that will save it substantial amounts of money in transportation costs and speed up its operations.
Sources in Mauritius have said that the factory there, which employs 500 people, will close on December 5. Local media have quoted unnamed trade union sources as suggesting that Socota had become frustrated by high levels of absenteeism among Mauritian workers.
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