Ibrahim Group Timeline

The founder of Ibrahim Group, Late Haji Sheikh Mohammad Ibrahim, settled in Faisalabad after the partition of British India and started his ancestral business of cloth trading. For this purpose, a trading concern by the name of Ibrahim Agencies was established, which was later converted into a private limited company. During the mid-fifties, Sheikh Mukhtar Ahmad, the present chairman of the Group, started playing active role in the family business. He took the initiative to integrate the business vertically upward and alongside cloth trading the yarn trading business was also started. This proved a remarkable milestone in the future progress of the Group and in a very short span of time the Group earned a name in the marketing of Cotton and blended yarn. Having developed market expertise in cotton and blended yarn, the group ventured into manufacturing by establishing in first textile spinning company in 1980.

During 1980, first Textile Plant was established with an initial capacity of 12,768 spindles. The plant and machinery was provided by Marzoli & Savio (Italy). Later on capacity of this plant was increased to 49,248 spindles. This plant was later named as Textile Plant-1 (TP-1). The primary product produced in this plant was Polyester Viscose yarn.

With a success of first spinning plant, in May 1984, second spinning plant was built with a capacity of 17,280 spindles. The plant and machinery was provided by Howa, Japan. Later on capacity of this plant was increased to 38,400 spindles. This plant was later named as Textile Plant-2 (TP-2). The main products produced in this plant were Polyester Viscose and Polyester Cotton yarns.

Progressing with a rapid pace, in 1989, third spinning plant was built with an initial capacity of 19,200 spindles. The plant and machinery was provided by Ohtori Trützschler and Howa, Japan. Later on capacity of this plant was increased to 38,400 spindles. This plant was later named as Textile Plant- 3 (TP-3). The main product produced in this plant was Polyester Cotton yarn.

To get self-sufficiency in energy, Ibrahim Group installed its first Power Generation Plant in January 1994 with power generation capacity of 21.2 MW. Later on capacity of this plant was increased to 31.8 MW. The plant was comprised of 6 furnace oil generating sets, each having a capacity of 5.3 MW, supplied by Niigata Power Systems Co., Limited, Japan.

With the spirit of growth and having quality and cost control in its supply chain, the group decided to opt for backward integration in 1996 and established its first Polyester Plant with a manufacturing capacity of 200 tons per day. The state of the art machinery was provided by German company, Zimmer.

To meet the increasing demand of yarn in the market, the operational capacity of Textile Plant 1 was enhanced from 49,248 spindles to 58,080 spindles in year 1999 with technology of Marzoli (Italy) and cone-winding of Savio (Italy).

To gain operational and financial synergies, Ibrahim Textile Mills Limited, A. A. Textiles Limited, Zainab Textile Mills Limited and Ibrahim Energy Limited were merged into Ibrahim Fibres Limited (IFL) in 2001.

Realizing the surge in local PSF demand in 2002, company installed its second Polyester Plant with a capacity of 400 tons per day. The total production capacity rose to 600 tons per day after this development. The plant and machinery was provided by the same company Zimmer Germany.

To further boost the quality of products, BMR of Textile Plant 2 was done in year 2004 based on plant and machinery supplied by Marzoli (Italy) and Schlafhorst (Germany).

Keeping in view a diversification strategy, Ibrahim Group took over the control of Allied Bank of Pakistan in 2004 by injecting Rupees 14.2 billion equity representing 75.35 % of the enhanced share capital. The bank was later named as Allied Bank Limited.

Keeping up with technological advancement, in year 2007 up gradation in ring and winding section of Textile Plant 3 was done and plant and machinery was provided by Zinser and Schlafhorst (Germany).

To keep pace with company’s increasing production capacity, the second Power Generation plant was installed having a gas turbine of 15 MW provided by Turbo Mach, Switzerland (now known as Solar Turbines).

In 2013, Ibrahim Fibres Limited established third Polyester Plant with the capacity of 650 tons per day and emerged as the largest manufacturer of polyester staple fiber (PSF) in Pakistan with a total capacity of 1250 tons per day. The plant and machinery was provided by same company i.e. Zimmer Germany (now known as Technip Zimmer).

To manage an increasing power requirement, company installed five new furnace oil generating sets, each having a capacity to produce 5.3 MW, supplied by Niigata Power Systems Co., Limited, Japan. These Engines, with total power generation capacity of 26.5 MW, started operating in May 2013.

In order to ramp up the productivity and quality of the product, company upgraded the digital control systems relating to polymer, spinning and fibre lines in year 2016.

To optimize the yarn production of Textile Plant 2, the entire back process machinery constituting of blow room machines, card machines, lap formers and combing machines were replaced with latest machinery provided by Trützschler (Germany).

Adhering to a commitment of delivering premium quality, complete spinning and winding of Textile Plant 1 was replaced with latest machinery of Schlafhorst (Germany).

During 2015, IFL signed an agreement with Christof Project GmbH, Austria for engineering, supply and supervision of installation / commissioning of coal fired power generation plant comprising of CFB Boiler having steam production capacity of 80 ton / hour and power generation capacity of 20.4 MW. This project started operations during 2018. Implementation of this project reduced reliance on expensive fuels and contributes significantly in business competitiveness by reducing the energy cost of the business. Steam requirement of polyester plants is also being fulfilled by Gas turbine and Coal power plant.

Ever increasing demands prompted further expansion in manufacturing of yarns i.e. Textile Plant IV. The plant started operations during June 2020. This state of the art Plant comprises of 100,320 spindles having yarn production capacity of 32,500 tons per annum. Plant and machinery for this project is provided by World's leading suppliers i.e. Trützschler GmbH and Saurer Spinning Solutions; Germany and Luwa Air Engineering; Switzerland.

In order to deploy latest technologies for plant operations, the digital control system for polymer, spinning and drawing lines of Polyester Plant 2 has been replaced. The supply of engineering, equipment and supervision was provided by Technip Zimmer, Germany.

Now all polyester plants are equipped with Delta V DCS System by EMERSON Process Management providing a foundation for real time, efficient and accurate control and monitoring of the process of entire plant through Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM). The Delta V DCS System provides access to historical process data for monitoring and analyzing process conditions. Intelligent alarming techniques help enhanced operator control capability to evaluate changing conditions and to respond quickly to any process changes. The plants have one to one redundancy starting from process control units up to all Input / Output modules enabling smooth and consistent operations.

To optimize the yarn production, the company initiated BMR of TP3 – Unit 1 in 2021. The entire back process was replaced with the latest state of art machinery which consists of complete Blow room machines, Carding machines, Draw Frames, Lap formers, Combing machines and Roving machines along with Waste collection humidification system supplied by World’s leading machinery manufacturers i.e. Truetzschler Group SE, Saurer Spinning Solutions Germany and Luwa Air Engineering, Switzerland.

In order to keep up with technological advancement, the company replaced the entire back process of Textile Plant 3 - Unit 2 with the latest machinery which consists of complete Blow room machines, Carding machines, Draw Frames, Lap formers, Combing machines, Roving Machines and Air Conditioning System. Imported plant & machinery for this project is provided by World's leading suppliers i.e. Truetzschler Group SE., Saurer Spinning Solutions & Co, Germany, and Luwa Air Engineering Switzerland.