Zagis USA said Dec. 14 it has completed construction on a new textile mill in Louisiana.
The new facility in Lacassine, La., is the first of two mills that Zagis USA committed to build in the state. The location of the second mill has not yet been announced.
Together, the two mills will represent at least $75 million in capital investment and will employ at least 160 people by 2012. Louisiana Economic Development (LED) estimates that 645 additional indirect jobs will be created by the mills.
Zagis USA officials were joined by Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and others on Dec. 14 to commission the new 128,000-square-foot cotton spinning mill. The ceremony marked the end of a construction project that began with a groundbreaking in July 2008.
LED estimates that when the new Zagis spinning mills are in full production they will utilize up to 15 to 20% of Louisiana's cotton crop to spin yarn.
The new facility will have one of the lowest yarn production costs in the world partly due to its access to Louisiana's cotton supply, according to the company. The mill is capable of processing 50 million pounds of cotton annually.
The project is the most significant cotton processing investment in Louisiana in decades, and the first cotton-spinning facility built in the United States in many years, according to LED.
"In addition to bringing the great news of a company creating jobs in Louisiana, this project represents a significant shift for the textile industry. Companies have increasingly looked at offshore options during the past two decades," said LED Secretary Stephen Moret. "To have Zagis USA commit to building not one but two modern cotton spinning plants using the most advanced technology in the world is a testament to our state's ongoing economic momentum."
