Yucatan State Secretary of Economic Development and Labor, Mr. Ernesto Herrera Novelo declared on Monday September 2nd, that Asian companies are interested in buying Yucatecan Sisal fiber (henequen) for carpet manufacturing, which means that this industry could be reactivated in our state.
Carpet manufacturing industries in Asia are combining Yucatecan “sosquil” with the fiber they produce to achieve the perfect mix of durability on their carpets. The Koreans and Chinese conducted a soil study and concluded that the Yucatan has the minerals that make the fiber resistant, with a superior quality than that of Brazil and Tanzania.
“After 120 years of having henequen as our main economic strength, which was subsequently abandoned, this natural fiber now returns strong to the world market, and today China is asking for Yucatecan henequen. The demand for the famous Yucatecan sisal has awakened again, ” Herrera Novelo said.
Yucatan State Secretary of Economic Development and Labor, Mr. Ernesto Herrera Novelo (Photo: yucatan,com.mx)
As part of this reactivation, the Ministry of Rural Development is currently supporting the planting of the first 4,000 hectares of henequen and the private initiative will invest in this industry for the operation of a plant near the city of Motul.
Read: Sisal industry could make a big comeback in the XXI century
Also in Motul, the United States Department of the Treasury has a fund of 4 billion dollars with which it drives small women’s agro-industrial companies and Yucatan is in this plan. If the project is completed, women producers would sell their agri-food products to the United States.
Soskil or sosquil, is the Maya language name that is given in the Yucatan Peninsula to the natural fiber obtained from the henequen (Agave fourcroydes), by means of a defibration procedure that allows to extract from the plant its cellulosic content in form of fine filaments, with which fabrics, rigging, ropes and other handicrafts are made.
The Yucatan Times Newsroom
