Agronest Export

Technical Material — HS 5305

Pineapple Leaf Fiber (PALF) Manufacturer & Exporter

Lab-tested PALF from Bangladesh's pineapple belt — 70–82% cellulose, silvery-white luster, 400–700 MPa tensile — for luxury apparel, vegan leather, and footwear brands.

  • MOQ 200 kg
  • FOB Chattogram
  • Quote in 24 h
  • HS 5305
Silvery-white pineapple leaf fiber (PALF) strands with natural luster from Bangladesh

20–60 microns

finer than banana fiber

The Material

The quiet luxury of leaf fiber

For centuries, weavers have transformed pineapple leaf fiber into piña cloth — a sheer, silken fabric with a luster no cotton matches. We supply the raw, decorticated fiber that modern material programs build on.

Pineapple plantation in the Modhupur–Tangail belt of Bangladesh — the source of PALF
≈ 6,880 hectares under cultivation in the Tangail pineapple belt
Long pineapple leaves — three tonnes of agri-waste per tonne of fruit, ready for decortication
~3 t of leaves per tonne of pineapples — a waste stream waiting for value
Decorticated pineapple leaf fiber strands graded for fineness, length, and silvery luster
Graded strands — the silvery-white luster is the quality marker

At a Glance

PALF specifications

Production specs from our factory in Modhupur, Tangail, verified per lot by an ISO/IEC 17025 accredited laboratory. Every figure is either a production parameter we control or a value confirmed per lot — the lab report for your sample lot travels with the samples.

One distinction before sourcing: Piñatex is a trademarked non-woven material made from PALF — not the fiber itself, and not the same as woven piña cloth. We supply industrial PALF, the upstream input both traditions build on. Compare PALF vs banana fiber or see the raw banana fiber program.

Natural Pineapple Leaf Fiber — Technical Data Sheet

Cellulose content
70–82%
Fiber length
40–90 cm from long pineapple leaves
Linear density
1.8–3.2 tex
Fineness
20–60 microns
Tensile strength
400–700 MPa (lab-tested range)
Moisture regain
9–11%
Appearance
Silvery-white natural luster, finer and whiter than banana fiber
HS code
5305 — vegetable textile fibres
Origin
Modhupur, Tangail, Bangladesh — produced at our own factory

Why Bangladesh

The Modhupur–Tangail pineapple belt is PALF's quiet advantage

Year-round fruit means a continuous stream of leaves — and our factory sits inside the belt, so leaves move from farm to decorticator in hours. That proximity is the single biggest determinant of PALF quality.

≈ 6,880 ha under cultivationFactory inside the belt1.5–2.5% fiber yield

Available Grades

Sorted by fineness, length, and luster

PALF is unforgiving to produce well — leaves must be decorticated fresh, and yield is only 1.5–2.5% of leaf weight. Grading at the mill is what turns that scarcity into a predictable supply chain.

Premium grade

Best for: luxury apparel, vegan leather substrates

The finest, whitest, most lustrous strands — selected by fineness and color, the grade behind piña-style cloth and non-woven leather substrates.

Standard grade

Best for: spinning, footwear, home textiles

Consistent 20–60 micron strands with the silvery luster intact — the workhorse grade for yarn programs and footwear components.

Industrial grade

Best for: geotextiles, acoustic panels, composites

Cost-efficient shorter strands with the same 70–82% cellulose core — for civil, acoustic, and composite applications.

Choosing Your Fiber

PALF or banana fiber — a quick decision guide

We supply both, so we have no reason to oversell either. The choice comes down to four properties.

Luster & color
PALF is the silvery-white, near-lustrous option — the closer silk analog. Banana fiber carries a warm golden tone.
Fineness
PALF runs 20–60 microns and 1.8–3.2 tex; banana fiber runs 80–250 microns. For fine counts and smooth surfaces, PALF leads.
Tensile strength
Banana fiber reaches 500–900 MPa against PALF's 400–700 MPa. For maximum load-bearing, banana has the edge.
Cost position
Banana fiber yields more per plant (5–8% of pseudostem vs 1.5–2.5% of leaf weight), so it prices lower for volume programs.

Many material programs blend the two to balance luster, strength, and cost — the full head-to-head with blend suggestions is in our pineapple fiber vs banana fiber guide.

Extraction Process

From crown waste to silvery strand in five steps

One mill, one grading standard, one accredited lab report per lot — so a sample approved in March is the same fiber you receive in October.

  1. Long pineapple leaves collected after fruit harvest for PALF extraction in Tangail

    01 Harvest-window collection

    Leaves are pulled from the plant crown right after fruit harvest, while the fiber is hydrated and flexible. Delay by days and strand quality drops measurably.

  2. Mechanical decortication of fresh agri-waste leaves into clean fiber strands at our factory

    02 Mechanical decortication

    Fresh leaves pass through decorticators that separate the fiber bundle from the leaf pulp — water and mechanical action only, no chemicals.

  3. Freshly decorticated fiber strands drying in the sun at the Modhupur mill

    03 Washing and drying

    Strands are washed clean of pulp residues and sun-dried to a controlled 9–11% moisture regain, protecting both luster and bale weight.

  4. Graded silvery-white pineapple leaf fiber (PALF) with natural luster before baling

    04 Grading and baling

    Fibers are sorted by fineness, length, and color — the silvery-white luster is the grade marker — then compressed into 25, 50, or 100 kg bales.

  5. Compressed bales of graded pineapple leaf fiber prepared for export

    05 Per-lot verification

    Every lot is sampled for tensile strength and chemical safety at an ISO/IEC 17025 accredited laboratory (Hohenstein); the report ships with your documents.

Processing runs at our own factory in Modhupur, Tangail — see the full process behind every bale we export.

Use Cases

What buyers make with PALF

Four demand channels, each using a different property of the fiber — luster, fineness, strength, or absorbency.

Fine woven fabric from pineapple leaf fiber for luxury apparel and occasionwear

Luxury apparel

Fine 20–60 micron strands and natural sheen for premium shirting, scarves, and occasionwear where silk-blend price points apply.

Non-woven pineapple leaf fiber substrate material for vegan leather products

Vegan leather substrates

The raw fiber input for Piñatex-style non-woven substrates used in bags, accessories, and automotive trim.

Spun yarn cones produced from cottonized pineapple leaf fiber at a spinning mill

Spun yarns

Via our cottonized pineapple fiber, PALF reaches conventional ring, rotor, and vortex spinning without bast-fiber equipment.

Weaving loom producing pineapple leaf fiber fabric in the piña textile tradition

Handwoven textiles

The piña tradition, industrialized — hand and power looms weave PALF into sheer, lustrous cloth for décor and apparel.

Also established: footwear components, erosion-control geotextiles, and acoustic panels. Processing notes per use case live on our applications page.

Accredited laboratory testing pineapple leaf fiber tensile strength per export lot

Quality & Testing

Over-documented, by design

Lot-to-lot variation is the number one complaint buyers have about PALF. Our model reverses it: every lot is sampled for tensile strength and chemical safety at an ISO/IEC 17025 accredited laboratory (Hohenstein).

  • Moisture 9–11%
  • Tensile-tested per lot
  • Per-lot CoA + TDS
  • Chemical-safety screened

Substrate manufacturers and spinning mills build consumer-facing claims on top of our paperwork — so we would rather over-document than over-claim.

Packaging & Export

Baled for the container, documented for customs

Compressed bales of 25, 50, or 100 kg loaded at Chattogram — with the export machinery of the world's second-largest garment exporter behind every shipment.

Container load
~18–20 t of compressed fiber per 40' HC
Documents
Phytosanitary certificate, Certificate of Origin, invoice, packing list, per-lot TDS
Transit
Sea ~24–35 days to Europe, ~28–40 days to the US; air 5–10 days via Dhaka
Incoterms
FOB Chattogram (Chittagong) or CIF worldwide
Compressed pineapple leaf fiber bales packed for export from Chattogram
Chattogram container port loading PALF export cargo for Europe and the US

Trade Terms

PALF terms, published up front

Same discipline as our banana fiber program: numbers first, negotiation second. This is how every PALF order runs.

Lead time

2–4 weeks

from order confirmation or L/C opening

Payment

T/T 30/70

or 100% irrevocable L/C at sight

Shipping

FOB / CIF

Chattogram · ~18–20 t per 40' HC

Samples

0.5–3 kg

by international courier, before you commit

The workflow mirrors our banana program: share your application and destination, receive specs and indicative pricing within 24 hours, trial a courier sample, then confirm with a proforma invoice. Indicative bands are on the wholesale page.

Complete Terms

Every term of trade, in one table

The four headline numbers above, plus everything a procurement team needs to plan an import: documents, lab reports, container loads, and transit times — published rather than negotiated.

PALF — complete trade terms

Minimum order (MOQ)
200 kg
Samples
0.5–3 kg by international courier
Lead time
2–4 weeks from order confirmation or L/C opening
Payment terms
T/T 30/70 or 100% irrevocable L/C at sight
Incoterms
FOB Chattogram (Chittagong) or CIF worldwide, by sea and air
Shipping loads
~18–20 t of compressed fiber per 40' HC container
Transit times
Sea ~24–35 days to Europe, ~28–40 days to the US; air 5–10 days via Dhaka
Export documents
Phytosanitary certificate, Certificate of Origin, per-lot Technical Data Sheet (TDS)
Lab reports
Per-lot ISO/IEC 17025 accredited lab reports (Hohenstein) covering chemical safety and tensile strength

FAQ

Pineapple leaf fiber questions, answered

The questions our sales team answers most — heritage, properties, sampling, and shipping.

PALF is a natural cellulose fiber extracted from the long leaves of the pineapple plant — Ananas comosus — after fruit harvest. Leaves that would otherwise be burned or left to rot are decorticated, washed without chemicals, and dried into fine, silvery-white strands with 70–82% cellulose and a tensile range of 400–700 MPa.

Ready to source?

Get a written quotation within 24 hours

Tell us your grade, quantity, and destination. We reply with specs, indicative pricing, and a sample plan — MOQ from 200 kg, samples from 0.5 kg.