BURNABY, Canada, January 14, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -Philippines to continue its dominance as the largest global producer of abaca

fiber over the next five

years
With continuing development of fiber craft industry in the Philippines, the abaca fiber market has
been witnessing a boost due to growing demand for gifts, toys and housewares. Moreover,
increasing consumer inclination for lifestyle products is further expected to strengthen the growth
trend for abaca crafts in the coming years. Currently, there are only two major exporters of abaca
fiber in the world - Philippines and Ecuador, with Philippines accounting for over 80% of the global
production of abaca fiber. In the Philippines, abaca plant is cultivated across 130 thousand hectares
of land by over 90 thousand farmers. Abaca fiber is primarily used as a raw material by end user
industries such as pulp & paper, fiber craft, cordage, etc. According to a recently published TechSci
Research report, "Philippines Abaca Fiber Market Forecast & Opportunities, 2019", the abaca
fiber market in Philippines is projected to register a CAGR of around 5.7% during 2014-19.
(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140117/663730)
The pulp manufacturing industry is the leading end-user of abaca fiber, followed by cordage
manufacturing and fiber craft industry. The report also reveals that owing to the increasing use of
abaca fiber in manufacturing of speciality paper, the demand for the fiber among pulp manufacturers
is constantly surging and the trend is expected to prevail during 2014-19. Among the leading abaca
fiber suppliers, Ching Bee Trading Corporation dominates the market in Philippines, followed by Tag
Fibers, Inc. and Selinrail International
The government of Philippines is also taking initiatives to promote the production of high-quality
abaca fiber in the domestic market. Owing to these developments, the Philippines is expected to
further strengthen its market positioning as the most dominant abaca fiber market over the next five
years, and consequently create additional growth opportunities for new players to foray into the
market. "The initiatives taken by the Philippines government for the promotion of abaca fiber in the
domestic market are expected to augment the demand for fiber in the country. The government is
also working towards facilitating production of good quality fiber to meet the rising export demand for
abaca fiber from countries like the US, Japan, China, and the UK." said Mr. Karan Chechi, Research
Director withTechSci Research.
"Philippines Abaca Fiber Market Forecast & Opportunities, 2019" has evaluated the future
growth potential of abaca fiber market in the Philippines and provides statistics and information on
market structure and consumer behavior trends. The report includes abaca fiber market projections
and demand forecasting. The report is intended to provide cutting-edge market intelligence and help
decision makers take sound investment evaluation. Besides, the report also identifies and analyzes
the emerging trends along with essential drivers, challenges and opportunities in the
Philippines abaca fiber market.

About TechSci Research

TechSci Research is a global market research and consulting company with offices in Canada, UK
and India. TechSci Research provides market research consulting services in six verticals Information Technology, Chemicals, Water & Water Recycling, Consumer Goods & Retail,
Automotive and Energy & Power. The company uses proprietary innovative business model that
focuses on improved productivity that also ensure the creation of high-quality reports. With more
than 100 client engagements with fortune 500 clients, TechSci Research enjoys the status of a
premium market research services provider in the industry.

Abstract
This 6-year study was conducted to determine the effect of three leguminous cover crops on
the growth and yield of abaca and measure the contribution of the cover crops in restoring
and conserving the inherent fertility of the soil. In the later years of the experiment (2000
2002),
cover
cropping
with Desmodium
ovalifolium and Calopogonium
muconoides significantly increased the stalk and leaf lengths, and stalk circumferences.
Fiber yield also significantly increased in plots with C. muconoides as plant cover. Among the
cover crops used, D. ovalifolium showed the highest biomass production of 8.9 and
8.6 tons/ha in the 1999 and 2000 data gathering, respectively. Highest N content in the
tissues among the covercrops used was noted in C. muconoides. Accumulation of soil
organic matter was observed in plots with D. ovalifoliumwhile higher total N in the soil was
found in plots cover cropped with C. mucunoides. Among the cover crops
tested, Centrocema pubescens is not an effective companion crop for abaca. However, lower
erosion rates were noted in plots planted with cover crops.

Keywords

Abaca;
Musa textilis;
Cover cropping;
Biomass;
Soil loss