SYNTHETIC YARN IN U.S.A.

Southland Times, Issue 23646, 22 October 1938, Page 7

SYNTHETIC YARN IN U.S.A.

Japanese Silk Trade May Be Affected UPHEAVAL AST ECONOMIC POSITION PREDICTED (Received October 21, 11.55 p.m.) NEW YORK, October 21. A major upheaval in Japan’s economic position through the loss of the huge United States market for raw silk was predicted by hosiery producers here when the Celanese Corporation of America, manufacturer of Acetate process yarns and fabrics, announced that, it was erecting in Virginia a 10,000,000 dollar plant producing an entirely new synthetic yam able to be used in all textile fields. It was also announced that the Dupont firm was building a 7,000,000 dollar plant at Delaware producing a new synthetic fibre, also adaptable to various textile uses, but intended chiefly for hosiery, which is virtually the only division of the textile trade in which rayon is not yet seriously challenged. Hosiery, especially feminine hosiery, has remained nearly exclusively an outlet for raw silk, because the synthetic yarns produced hitherto have had too much lustre and been insufficiently elastic and sheer. The Dupont yam, which has been successful in experiments in producing hosiery able to compete in all grades with silk stockings, is selling at one dollar or less. It will be a year before either yam is ready for commercial use.

It is estimated that 75,000,000 dollars’ worth of raw silk is imported annually and used in hosiery, which, illustrates the extent of the Japanese loss if the yams justify expectations.