Availability of Kenaf Fibers for the U.S. Paper Industry, 1994 Pulping Conference Proceedings

Gordon Fisher

Kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus L.) has been promoted, over the past three decades, as a non-woody fiber suitable for the manufacturing of pulp and paper. Only in the past several years has the production of kenaf reached sufficient volume for the fiber to be seriously considered as a feedstock by the paper industry. The annual tonnage of kenaf available to the industry has dramatically increased over the past two years and is expected to accelerate over the next five years. At this time kenaf production and processing operations are located in Mississippi, California, Texas and Louisiana. Additional operations are expected to be established in several other states in the next few years. The agronomics of growing and harvesting kenaf are now well established with differing methods used in each of the production regions. The methodologies to further process the harvested kenaf into varying fiber qualities suitable for paper manufacturing has kept pace with the increase in kenaf acreage. Some pulp and paper companies have established quality standards for kenaf fibers. The kenaf industry has developed methods by which the long bast fibers can be separated from the short woody innercore fibers. Several technologies to separate the fibers have been developed by private companies and are currently being employed on a commercial scale. Kenaf bast fibers can now be made available to the pulp and paper industry in commercial quantities with 98% or better purity.