RAMIE FIBER PRODUCTION 



11 



England, Germany, and France, where mills are located that manu- 

 facture it into various products. 



China utilizes from 50,000 to 80,000 tons of China grass yearly. 

 Most of this is utilized locally, but some is manufactured into cloth, 

 which is exported as grass linen. Unfortunately, not all grass linen is 

 pure ramie so again exact figures regarding this material are 

 uncertain. 



Japanese ramie production, while yet unimportant, has been in- 

 creasing. In 1936, there was an estimated production of 1,200 tons 

 in Japan, 600 tons in Chosen, and 1,500 tons in Taiwan. This was all 

 utilized in Japan. Japanese plantations in the Philippine Islands 

 have grown a little ramie in recent years. There was a reported 8 

 area in excess of 300 hectares (741 acres) in the Philippines in 1938 

 from which 455 short tons of China grass were exported. 



DOMESTIC MARKET AND IMPORTATIONS 



The United States Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce has 

 prepared statistics, shown in table 1, of the importations of raw China 

 grass or ramie fiber into the United States in recent years. These 

 statistics indicate the limited demand that has existed in the United 

 States in recent years for this material at the prevailing prices. The 

 variations in the price of the fiber as shown in table 1 probably result 

 from a number of factors, including the quality of the fiber. The 

 better grades of China grass are well prepared, long, well bleached, 

 fine, and flexible. 



Statistics of the amount and value of manufactured yarns and 

 woven materials of ramie imported into the United States are not 

 available, but the importations are believed to be relatively small in 

 comparison with yarns and fabrics made from some other textile 

 fibers. 



Table 1. — Imports 



of ramie fiber into the United States, 1922-39 1 





Year 



Long tons 



Value 



Year 



Long tons 



Value 



Year 



Long tons 



Value 



1922 



1923 



1924 



1925 



1926 



1927 



( 2 ) 

 ( 2 ) 



1 

 ( 2 ) 

 ( 2 ) 

 ( 2 ) 



$7 



163 



263 



117 



38 



57 



i 



1928 



1929 



1930 



1931 



1932 



1933 



( 2 ) 



( 2 ) 



( 2 ) 



6 

 

 1 



$5 



28 



90 



272 



168 



1934 



1935 



1936 



1937 



1938 



1939 



9 

 2 



47 

 25 

 102 

 ( 2 ) 



$584 



600 



9,258 



4,823 



22, 214 



30 



i U. S. Dept. of Commerce annual reports, Commerce and navigation of the United States. 

 2 Less than I ton. 



MANUFACTURING AND USES 



The first step in the processing of ramie is degumming, which has 

 not in the past been considered as part of the agricultural prepara- 

 tion of the fiber, but the first step in manufacturing. The degum- 

 ming process in ramie might be compared to the retting of flax, 

 hemp, and jute. It consists of the removal of the gums adhering 

 to the China grass. It changes the rather stiff, straw-colored 



a U. S. Department of Commerce, ramie-philippine islands : production and export. 

 Textile Raw Materials 1:389. 1939. [Mimeographed.] 



