According to the document, entitled Alternative Plant Fibre Landscape Analysis: Between Tradition and Innovation, global production of alternative plant fibres, excluding cotton, reached 5.9 million tonnes in 2023, compared to 4.9 million tonnes in 2005. In 2023, the global market for these fibres was valued at US$3.8 billion (approximately €3.34 billion) and involved around 11.9 million producer households, the majority of them smallholder farmers in countries across the Global South.
The Fibral – Global Plant Fibre Association notes that production of alternative plant fibres has been contracting since 2022, with an estimated 8% decline to 5.6 million tonnes in 2025, which the report’s authors attribute to inflation, geopolitical risks, rising production costs and disruptions in supply chains.
According to the association, alternative plant fibres include all naturally occurring plant-based fibres other than cotton, sourced from dedicated crops, agricultural by-products, wild or invasive species and other biomass crops, such as sisal, abaca and pineapple leaf fibres.
In the chapter dedicated to the main users of these fibres, Fibral includes Portugal’s Tearfil among companies in the spinning sector, identifying it as a user of a range of plant fibres.
According to Fibral, the alternative plant fibre market could reach as much as 8 million tonnes by 2035 if constraints such as fragmented value chains, limited investment, insufficient processing infrastructure and weak market alignment are overcome.
Under a business-as-usual scenario based on historical trends, the report estimates that production could reach around 6.6 million tonnes over the same period. According to the association, developments in the regulatory framework, including measures to reduce microplastic emissions, restrictions on single-use plastics and the strengthening of ESG strategies, circularity commitments and sustainable material sourcing, could help increase demand for plant fibres.
The report groups the main barriers to the sector’s growth into three categories, namely structural and regulatory barriers, such as the lack of stable sourcing contracts and the absence of a specific customs code within the Harmonised System for fibres such as banana or nettle; operational constraints, including the low fibre extraction yield, which in some cases represents only 1% to 2% of total biomass; and environmental and socio-economic factors, including the ageing workforce engaged in cultivation and processing.
Challenges and opportunities
Among the objectives of the report are to provide a global overview of plant fibre production systems, improve sector transparency, support informed decision-making, identify opportunities and challenges for responsible and sustainable growth, address knowledge gaps and analyse the shortage of data on the environmental, social and economic impacts associated with different fibre systems.
Fibral considers that «reimagining plant fibres as modern bio-based materials requires stronger sector coordination and collaborative action to improve production capacity, quality consistency and processing capabilities», adding that «in the short term, building reliable supply systems and technical alignment is essential, while long-term scaling will depend on mobilising investment, strengthening market integration and creating supportive policy frameworks».
