Kafus JV to Grow Kenaf for Fibers
BOSTON -- Kafus Environmental Industries (Kafus) has established a joint venture company in Italy to grow, harvest and process Kenaf and other natural fibers for commercial sale throughout Europe.
Kafus, through its subsidiary Kenaf Industries, is the leading U.S. grower and processor of Kenaf and is aggressively pursuing global business opportunities based on the use of Kenaf in newsprint production and the manufacture of natural fiber composites to replace fiberglass and reinforced plastics currently used by automobile manufacturers and other industries.
Kenaf, a member of the hibiscus family, thrives in areas like Italy that have long, warm growing seasons. It will attain heights of 16 ft. in as little as 7 seven months and yields 2-3 times more fiber per acre per year than Southern Pine.
The new Italian joint venture company, named Kenaf Eco-Fibers Italia s.p.a. (Kenaf Eco-Fibers), will be 50 percent owned by a Kafus subsidiary, Futura Composites Corporation (Futura), 44 percent by G. Kenaf s.r.l. and 6 percent by Dr. Giovanni Mignoni. G. Kenaf has successfully grown and harvested kenaf and hemp on a large scale in Italy.
G. Kenaf s.r.l. is owned by the Gallusi industrial group headed by Mr. Giacomo Gallusi of Guastalla, Italy. The Gallusi group is active in agriculture and manufacturing with business interests in trucking, commercial cold storage, wood panel products including medium-density fiberboard and particleboard, plastics laminating and farming. Dr. Mignoni is a world-renowned agricultural expert who has served as Senior Advisor to the United Nations in Vienna. Dr. Mignoni is also an expert on kenaf and has written a comprehensive handbook on kenaf and its commercial uses.
Kafus' new Italian Kenaf joint venture is the initial stage of an aggressive European Kenaf development program.
Kafus' Texas-based Kenaf Industries is scheduled to increase its current Kenaf plantation to 25,000 acres for cultivation in year 2000. The resulting fiber will be used to supply a Kenaf-based newsprint facility under development by Kafus in South Texas as well as a Kafus natural fiber composites plant currently under construction in Elkhart, IN. This plant, the first of a series planned for global development, will be manufacturing Kafus' trademark range of Flexform(TM) mats and panels for use in car interiors. Kafus recently concluded a strategic collaboration with Visteon Automotive Systems, a division of Ford Motor Car Company, to develop and manufacture natural fiber composite mats and panel products for the automotive industry. Kenaf fiber is already being used in Europe for interior trim applications by such companies as Volvo, Saab and Ford.
The current plans call for Kenaf Eco-Fibers to cultivate over 2,000 acres of Kenaf over the next 2 years. The resulting fiber will be used to supply the existing commercial requirements throughout Europe.
Kafus is changing the global landscape through the use of alternative sustainable resources in the production of commodities.
The foregoing contains forward-looking statements, which are subject to contingencies and uncertainties. Such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, and are based on numerous assumptions about future conditions that could prove to be inaccurate, including, without limitation, the assumption that Kafus will be able to raise the necessary financing to develop its projects and that there is market acceptance for its products. Actual events, transactions, and results may differ materially from anticipated events, transactions or results described in such statements. Material uncertainties about the future of the company exist. Kafus is subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, which are set forth in its filings, with the Securities Exchange Commission.