1.5 NATURAL FIBRES

An important common feature of the markets for most natural fibres is the balance between the increasing interest in natural products and the competition from cheaper, synthetic fibres.

Throughout the twentieth century chemists have become extremely successful at either synthesising natural products or creating new products that are cheaper and/or better than natural products.

In the case of fibres a large range of polymers have been invented which can be spun into useful materials. Many of these have been derived from fossil fuels. Some synthetic fibres, like nylon or carbon fibre, have special characteristics that could never be replaced by natural fibres. Others are cheap but poor in quality, and are vulnerable to changes in taste and customers' buying power. Most successful new fibres used for clothes are combinations of both natural and synthetic fibres which manufacturers can mix to give the appropriate washing, dyeing, crease resistance and wearing characteristics required for the garment in question. Thee have also been improvements in the breeding and processing of some natural fibres over the last few decades which have given designers even more choice over the fabrics available.

Many consumers, especially in the developed world, have become significantly rich in the last few decades and now spend a greater proportion of their disposable income on clothes and furnishings. They are more concerned about the quality of the purchases they make and how fashionable they are than about the price they pay. And many consumers believe that certain products are superior if they are made with natural fibres. These opinions may be based on objective evidence but there now seems to be a long-term fashion trend which encourages people to think of natural products as superior, often simply because they are rarer or more exotic or even in some cases, more expensive.

Of course, many areas of fibre consumption are not affected by fashion. The cost of clothing is the most important consideration for the majority and industrial fibre users are driven by the imperatives of the market. In agriculture, for instance, natural fibres continue to lose ground to man-made alternatives.

It seems reasonable to suppose that the present market situation is now fairly well balanced between trends towards and away from synthetic substitutes. It can no longer be claimed that natural fibres are on their way out. The problem for natural fibre producers is however, the relatively weak market position for natural fibres at which this balance has been reached.

Synthetic fibres are mass-produced, giving economies of scale which ordinary farmers cannot achieve. China and some South-East Asian and East European countries, all of which have comparatively low labour costs, can produce synthetic fibres very cheaply. In general, competition from these materials will continue to limit the prospects for better markets for natural fibres in the future.

Despite this generally bleak picture, it is probable that islands of prosperity will be created in the natural fibre industry through innovation in product lines. Ramie is expensive but offers qualities to certain garment fabrics which more wealthy buyers are quite happy to pay for. Silk remains a luxury product but a greater proportion of the world's population can now afford it. Hemp clothing is becoming fashionable and would be more popular if there were a coordinated effort to site processing works nearer to growing areas. Cotton, by itself or mixed with some synthetic fibres, has retained its dominant mixtures of hard and soft natural fibres has been developed. They are hard-wearing and well designed and are bound to become more popular.

External considerations are beginning to affect consumption patterns in industry. Fossil fuels are still plentiful but people are concerned about using up finite resources. The processing of organic chemicals derived from these fuels carries with it certain environmental hazards. Most synthetic fibres are non-biodegradable (although some biodegradable products are being developed) and cause problems with disposal. Governments are making their first moves to discourage companies from placing these external costs on the community.

Governments of industrialised countries have developed means of encouraging the use of one type of fibre over another. There are quotas placed on imports in the Multifibre Agreement and in the new bilateral and multilateral agreements on textiles. There are tariff barriers against imports of synthetic twine and rope. These measures were designed to protect manufacturing industries in developed countries, of course, but they could be used for more progressive policies. They could be adapted to encourage the use of those made from fossil fuels, for instance. The progress being made towards eliminating trade barriers altogether may not be good for natural fibre growers.

The natural fibre industry has a very clear case for increased use of its products in agriculture. If bailing twine is ingested by farm animals it can kill them, sacks and sheeting do not rot as Polypropylene string, netting, sacks and sheeting do not rot as natural products do and cause serious environmental problems in the countryside. The supply of fossil fuels, from which synthetic fibres are produced, is finite.

The problem is that as faming becomes more capital intensive in developed countries the need for regularity in wrapping materials becomes important. If the trend for regularity in wrapping materials becomes important. If the trend towards man-made twine used for bailing hay and straw is to be reversed, the designers of harvesting and bailing equipment have got to be encouraged to make their machines compatible with the use of natural products.

Paper makers are increasingly recognising the special properties that can be obtained by including some natural fibres other than wood pulp in the raw materials that they use. Various technologies including food preparation and medical practices are requiring more and more specialist paper products.

The large and growing use of fibres for 'geotextiles' could also represent a new outlet for natural fibres. Geotextiles were developed by the Dutch to help them construct their dykes and sea defences. The idea is to bury netting in the bank as it is being constructed. The netting holds the earth of the bank together and helps to encourage the growth of plants and trees, which reinforces the bank further. This technique has now been taken up all over the world and is used in the construction of motorways, railways, canals, dams, etc. So far almost all these projects have been designed to use plastic fibres because they remain intact in the ground for many years. There are many projects of this kind, however, where earthworks will become naturally stable over time and where earthworks will become naturally stable over time and where environmental considerations would therefore suggest that natural fibres such as coir, which retains its tensile strength for five to ten years in the soil, would be more appropriate.

Apart from the very sound environmental arguments in favour of natural fibres, there are also powerful developmental ones. A quarter of a million workers were employed in the Tanzanian sisal industry in the early 1970s. By the mid-1990s this number has dropped to a tenth of that level.

For all these strong arguments the industry is very poorly organised to pressure governments to favour natural fibres. With the honourable exceptions of efforts by the Swedish, Bangladeshi and Indian governments, promotion work undertaken by the UNDP (United Nations Development Programme) and FAO (Food and Agriculture Organisation) and some small grants from developed countries, there has not been a concerted effort to persuade governments or the public of the important advantages\s of using natural fibres. This may be due, in part, to the part, to the fact that the giant chemical companies and oil companies, which produce the raw materials for making synthetic products, are in a much better position than third-world farmers to mount sophisticated advertising and promotion campaigns amongst farmers and agricultural suppliers.

The governments of producing countries are in a weak international position but should be encouraged at least to develop their own internal natural fibre markets. Restricting the import of cheap synthetics may not comply wit GATT agreements, but home-grown natural fibres should be cheaper to transport to domestic buyers and there is nothing to stop domestic natural fibre industries prompting their products to local users.

Producers of tropical products, including coffee, cocoa, rice, beans and nuts, are some of the largest buyers of fibre sacks. They also have a choice between polypropylene and natural fibre products. They are in a position to assist other tropical countries in the choices that they make.

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