Raw Materials
Rice and wood – building for the future on Japan’s natural resources and fiber legacy
Many of Japan’s major corporations began as fiber manufacturers, and their expansion has been decades long, typically involving diversification into other fields such as chemicals, plastics, pharmaceuticals, life sciences, real …
Previewing The Fiber Year 2020
The 20th anniversary edition of The Fiber Year includes important improvements for participants along the value chain – a distinct differentiation between fiber supply and the volume entering textile processing. …
Bicomponent fiber – get more than 2x
A biocomponent fiber, or bico, is a fiber that combines two separate polymers into a single filament. The term conjugate fiber is also used as a synonym. The process …
A strange brew – genetically engineered polymeric fibers
Over the past century, man has truly harnessed the power of artificial polymer materials; polymeric fiber materials have allowed for applications not possible with the use of natural fibers. Driven …
Viscose pulp prices at historical lows
The current price of hardwood viscose pulp in China is $650/tonne. This is the lowest price in real (inflation-adjusted) terms in at least the last 20 years, and probably an …