British Mandate: A Survey of Palestine: Volume I - Page 521

CHAPTER XIII.

environs of Haifa. More than half of the capital invested is in weaving plants.

144. A distinctive feature of the industry during the war has been the success of the Government sponsored Utility scheme. The degree of achievement is revealed by the retail value of utility textiles, of all types, which in 1944 amounted to approximately £P.6,000,000.

145. The following is a concise review of the progress that has been made in recent years in the various branches of the industry :-

(i) Spinning. The two firms engaged in the spinning of cotton yarn increased their 1939 production of 470 tons up to 1,355 tons in 1944. The present spinning capacity of 11,778 spindles could not be enlarged during the war but is being very appreciably extended by the installation of new plant part of which is due to arrive during the first half of 1946. The importation of the 100,000 spindles which have been licensed by the authorities will, when installed, make the textile industry practically independent of imported cotton yarn, save for special qualities and counts. The locally produced yarn spun from Egyptian and American raw cotton is definitely superior in quality to the yarn imported from India and is cheaper than the yarn recently imported from Brazil.

The quantity of woollen yarn, spun in Palestine, has risen from 10 tons in 1939 to 210 tons in 1944, and to approximately 300 tons in 1945; the total quantity of woollen yarn consumed has jumped from 11 tons in 1939 to more than 400 tons in 1945.

(ii) Weaving. In 1939, 500 tons of cotton yarn and 15 tons of woollen yarn were consumed by local weaving factories. In 1943, the consumption of all yarns bad risen to 3,031 tons and in 1944 to 4,040 tons, two-thirds of which were utilised in Utility production and another 10% on Government and Services' orders. The quantities of cloth woven were determined by the amount of yarn available and not by the weaving capacity which considerably exceeds present output. In 1943, more than 5,100,000 metres of cloth were woven by six Jewish factories alone. The weaving section is also in process of an overhaul and substantial extension and more than 2,000 mechanical looms have been ordered and are in the course of being delivered.

Palestine's estimated minimum requirements for textiles have been put at 22 million yards of cotton fabrics, two million yards

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