Kenaf Industry in Japan

The Kenaf industry in Japan is very much substantial. Among the associations that involved in promoting kenaf in Japan is the Japan Kenaf Association and the Non-wood paper promotion association. The associations have mainly increased the awareness of the usage of Kenaf in the industry. In this country also, most of the paper companies have used Kenaf as their raw materials in producing papers. This are due to the fact of the scarcity of trees in Japan and therefore they need to obtain alternatives.

Recent development in Japan are the NEC Corporation (NEC) and UNITIKA LTD. (UNITIKA) joint development of bioplastic reinforced with kenaf fiber. This collaboration is expected to contribute greatly to environmental measures for mobile phones. NTT DoCoMo, Inc. (NTT DoCoMo) is already using this new material in the entire casing of its new FOMA(TM) "N701iECO" mobile phone, which it launched on the Japanese market on March 10, 2006.(source: JCN Newswire)

Kenaf industry in USA

The Kenaf industry in USA is developing at slow rapid pace. This is due the facts that there is a decline in the amount of money allocated to Kenaf research by the government for reasons of budget restrictions and food security issues. However, even with the lack of finding, many researchers have done several intensive research with Kenaf. About 10,000 acres of Kenaf are grown in the year 2000 in various areas in USA. Among companies that are actively using Kenaf as their raw materials are KP Products Inc. doing business as Vision Paper, Kafus Industries, Cameco Industries Inc. Kenaf International, ANAKL, DBM Farms, and the Delta Fiber operation.