NUR-SULTAN – Carpets from Shymkent are gaining attention in the internal market and entering the international one.
Photo credit: kazsez.com.
Bal Tekstil, the country’s largest carpet manufacturer, began operation in 2013 in the city’s special economic zone. Its story began in 1994, however, when Talgat Ishakhov started wholesaling foreign rugs.
With hard work and focused on his main purpose – founding the local carpet industry – Ishakhov gained backing from Turkish investors. In the next 25 years, the company has earned an excellent business reputation among its clients, who appreciate the high quality of Bal Tekstil products and terms.
With approximately 300 employees working three shifts, the company manufactures more than five million square metres of rugs annually, a significant expansion compared to its early years. Those figures are expected to increase, as Bal Tekstil will introduce a third line of polypropylene threads, the only company in the country to manufacture such goods.
Carpet production is partially automated using modern equipment from Belgium, but the critical manual work is often overlooked. Materials are purchased from Bangladesh, India, Russia and Turkey.
Photo credit: otyrar.kz.
Made with great effort, Bal Tekstil carpets can be purchased throughout Kazakhstan, as the company’s distribution network has more than 400 points of sale. The names of the collections are easy to recognise – Alatay, Astana Deluxe, Barys, Khan Tengri, Leader and Turan. The company provides 500 different designs which clients may order.
Exports of the domestic carpets began in 2015, initially representing only 12 percent of the company’s business. Within six months, the figure reached 20 percent and management expectations are for it to increase to 50 percent. Several years ago Bal Tekstil finalised an agreement with IKEA, making its rugs available to European homeowners.
“We have more than 400 reliable clients from Kazakhstan, Russia, Kyrgyzstan and even all over the world. Our mission is simple – make people happy, give them our high-quality carpets at a reasonable cost for more comfortable living,” Ishakhov said in an interview with Kazakh newspaper Yuzhnyi.
