Abaca fiber finds use in the manufacture of cars, boats

Abaca fiber as material in the manufacture of car parts and building of boats? Abaca enzyme as ingredient of soap and beauty cream?

More and more commercial uses of abaca are being discovered, boosting the market potential of this plant known the world over as Manila hemp.

Traditionally used in the production of ropes, twines, clothing materials, and carpets, abaca is one of the country’s "endemic treasures", earning about $79 million (about P400 million) a year.

At present, reported Administrator Cecilia Gloria J. Soriano of the Department of Agriculture-Fiber Industry Development Authority (DA-FIDA), about 136,000 hectares are planted to abaca in various parts of the country, particularly in the Bicol Region and Eastern Visayas.

Some 82,000 farmers live out of abaca, producing about 70,000 metric tons of fibers a year. From this harvest, 24 percent is exported in raw form and the rest are locally processed into pulp, cordage, and other fibercrafts.

Philippine abaca accounts for 85 percent of the global production, Soriano reported at the recent National Agricultural and Fisheries Forum and Seminar organized by the DA-Bureau of Agricultural Research (BAR).

The local fiber is more competitive, marketable, and applicable than those of other competing countries, Soriano said.

Recently, the potentials of local abaca in the world market was considerably boosted by a research project which initially found that its fiber can be used in the outer cover of the spare wheel compartment of the Mercedes Benz A-class.

The "Abaca Public-Private Partnership Program in the Philippines: Application of Abaca Fiber in the Automotive Industry" is being undertaken by DaimlerChrysler in collaboration with the German Development Agency.

DaimlerChrysler has tapped the Leyte State University (LSU) in Baybay, Leyte, in the production of abaca fibers to be used as raw materials in the making of car parts.

The project was conceptualized based on the premise that abaca fibers can substitute for fiberglass in the manufacture of composites for the production of interior and exterior parts of luxury cars and automobiles.

Also involved in the venture are the University of Hohenheim (overall project coordinator), Euronatur, and Applied University of Routlingen in Germany.

Started in 2004, the project is set to enter its second phase in 2007, LSU president Paciencia Po-Milan said.

In her report at the BAR forum, Soriano also said that using abaca instead of fiberglass in the manufacture of car parts would bring energy savings of 60 percent and would significantly reduce carbon dioxide emission.

"For this technology, the German car company would need some 70,000 tons of abaca fiber a year," the FIDA official said, as quoted by DA-BAR’s Rita T. dela Cruz.

Abaca has also been found viable as a composite material in the construction of boats, as found in another study.

Moreover, the enzyme of abaca is now being widely used in cosmetics, particularly in the production of organic, hand-crafted therapeutic skin care products such as soap and beauty cream.

"Abaca soap, which has anti-ageing and therapeutic properties, is now marketed in the United States, Japan, and even Europe, Soriano said.

Abaca fiber also now has a "captive market" – government officials and employees, as stipulated in Republic Act 9242 enacted last year.

RA 9242 prescribes Philippine tropical fabrics (PTF) for uniforms of public officials and employees. PTF are those containing fibers from plants (abaca, banana, and pineapple) and animals grown, spun, and woven in the country.

Soriano is optimistic that the abaca fiber could eventually be known in the world market the way the Thai silk is popularly known. – Rudy A. Fernandez