Subj: Eur: Fashionable fabric with cannabis connections



Date: 21 Sep, 1998



Source: The European







Fashionable fabric with cannabis connections

Cath Blackledge



CALVIN KLEIN says: 'I love the fabric." Ralph Lauren likes 

its contrast against silk. Adidas is making sneakers out of 

it. And Mercedes in Brazil is using it commercially as a 

filling for car seats. The wonder material? Hemp, a cousin 

of cannabis.



The world's largest exhibition of the hemp business takes 

place this week in Hennef, near Cologne. Around 150 

businesses are expected to display their hemp-derived 

products. They are seeking to reap a portion of the world's 

soaring £100 million ($169m) industrial hemp market. In 1993 

worldwide sales of hemp products were just £3m; by l995 that 

figure had leapt to £45m. By 2001 the market is forecast to 

be worth £1 billion.



Hemp is proving a very versatile plant. Hemp fibre and seed 

can be used to make more than 25,000 consumer products, from 

paper to paint. The motor, fashion, food and paper 

industries are tipped to reap the biggest benefits, with 

hemp able to replace many of the fibres used in building 

materials, insulation, textiles, geo-textiles and cloth.



Both Daimler-Benz and BMW are investigating the possibility 

of replacing fibreglass with hemp glass to make a more 

environmentally friendly car. According to Daimler-Benz, 

hemp is particularly useful for reinforcing fibre parts 

because of its tensile strength.



Because hemp is steeped in essential fatty acids, oil from 

the plant is finding its way into cosmetics and beauty 

products. Body Shop is using it as a moisturiser in a 

product range and L'Oreal, the French cosmetics giant, is 

researching ways of exploiting its properties.



The next niche market for hemp is likely to be the health 

food sector. Hempseed oil is rich in the fatty acids Omega-

3, 6 and 9, which are believed to keep the heart healthy. 

Unlike other oils, hemp has them in the exact proportions a 

healthy diet requires.



Mitsubishi is turning to hemp paper. In 1996 it renounced 

its global lumber policy and is cultivating hemp in the 

Philippines in an effort to use all tree-free paper by 2003. 

But until more multinationals take the initiative and set up 

a cohesive industry infrastructure for the harvesting and 

manufacture of hemp products, hemp pulp will remain at a 

premium to wood pulp.



Industrial grade hemp contains only minute traces of THC, 

the psychoactive ingredient which marijuana smokers seek. 

Since legislation banning the cultivation of hemp was lifted 

during the past decade, the business of hemp has blossomed.



France leads western Europe in hemp production, with 6,000 

hectares a year. Germany, despite receiving a licence to 

grow the crop only two years ago, harvests 4,000 hectares, 

while Britain plants just 2,500 hectares. 



Table 1.

Hemp Industries Worldwide



Austria - Produces hempseed oil and medicinals



China - The largest exporter of hemp paper and textiles



France - The main producer of viable low-THC hempseed



Germany - Lifted ban on hemp production in 1995. Research 

in progress



Hungary - One of the largest exporters of hemp textiles to 

the US



Netherlands - Developing paper production from hemp



Romania - Largest commercial hemp producers in Europe



Spain - Grows and exports pulp for paper, rope and textiles



UK - Hemp prohibition lifted 1993. Government subsidies 

available to growers



USA - Hemp growing not legalised. Manufacturing of hemp 

product thriving on imported raw materials; 1998 hemp sales 

expected to top $100m



EU - Subsidies for hemp production valued at Ecu30 million ($34m) 

in 1999



Source: Hemp Industries Association / Reuters





Table 2

Growth in EU hemp production

                    1992       1998

Hectares               500    40,000

Yield in tonnes     30,000   240,000



Source: Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries and Food, UK