From: [d--ks--e] at [bronze.lcs.mit.edu] (Arian Wolverton)
Organization: MIT LCS guest machine

Hemp In Hungary, Revisited.

The Guru of Ganja makes a return trip to "the spiritual home of hemp" in
Central Europe.

By Ed Rosenthal

In 1991, when I first visited Hungary and investigated the hemp situation,
I saw an industry in decline. (See "Hemp In Hungary," May '92 HT.) Even
before the Soviet Union's implosion, hemp textiles and rope were being
replaced by synthetics and blends. In the previous 10 years there had been
a precipitous decline in production as hemp became a specialty item. The
Soviet Army used hemp in the far North, where the extremely low
temperatures made plastics and synthetic fibers brittle and unusable. The
empire's dissolution and Russia's subsequent near-bankruptcy abruptly
eliminated Hungary's principal customers.

In 1991, there were about 6,500 hectares growing in two eastern areas. In
1993, when I returned to Hungary, hemp was only planted on 300 hectares,
less than half the 650 sown in England. The country was going through
severe economic dislocations. Unemployment in the industrial and
agricultural sectors was, respectively, 25% and 40%. Total sales were way
down. However there was tremendous optimism in the hemp industry.

A number of American hempsters had made the pilgrimage to Hungary, the
spiritual home of hemp in Central Europe. Spinning tales of hemp to gold
and overwhelming demand in the West, these mendicants to a land of legal
hemp took the same trip I reported about in the May '92 HT. The guided
tour includes visits to farms, where the converted can seek enlightenment
in the large fields of low-THC hemp. Since they are there to do business,
the hempsters visit factories to see the stems decorticated and the fiber
processed into yarn or twine. Potential investors are then given complete
inspections of the textile factories in Pesc and Szeged. There may be
optional visits to pressboard factories, both operating and closed. The
complete tour takes about one week.

There is a rush for Hungarian fabric and twine as various companies jockey
for "control" of the Hungarian supply. At the same time, these new upstart
hemp importers are nervous that a big buyer will come into the market,
thereby making them irrelevant.

Processing techniques also need to be upgraded. Presently, the Hungarians
can spin a number-8 yarn. This is a medium-weight garment fabric. If they
could spin a number-5 yarn, which is somewhat finer, it could be knitted
rather than woven and t-shirts and other knits could be manufactured. It
is given among hemp entrepeneurs that there would be an incredible demand
for these products.

Over the next 12 months there will be a maturation in the hemp industry as
more companies get involved. The Hungarians are just beginning to respond
to the market. By next year they will be much more savvy and may make a
much larger commitment to the growing market.

Taken from the March '94 HT.

       Arian



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