GERMAN luxury car maker Daimler AG is negotiating with the government to buy abaca fiber as a filling for automobile seats.

?Most likely we?ll agree on something soon,? said Cecille Soriano, administrator of the Fiber Development Authority, which will take care of finding the abaca suppliers.

Soriano said her agency had received a number of other inquiries from car manufacturers, but talks with the German company were the closest to fruition.

Daimler?s use of abaca goes back to 2005, when it used the fiber as part of its exterior lining to replace fiberglass, reducing weight and costs and bringing about energy savings.

The move by some car companies to use abaca in their upholstery comes after the United Nations declared 2009 the International Year of Natural Fibers.

The declaration, which the Philippines supported, seeks to heighten awareness and stimulate

demand for natural fibers and sustain global production.

?This will help address the loss of the natural fiber market to synthetic fibers by emphasizing its value to consumers while helping to sustain the incomes of the farmers,? Soriano said.

Abaca aside, natural fibers include alpaca, angora , coir, cotton, fique, flax, hemp, jute, kenaf, llama, mohair, ramie, silk, sisal and wool.

The Philippines supplies about 85 percent of the world?s abaca fiber needs and Ecuador the rest.

Abaca accounts for 91 percent of the fiber crops grown in the entire country. The major abaca-producing areas are Catanduanes, Leyte, Davao Oriental, Sorsogon, Northern Samar, Davao del Sur, Surigao del Sur and Sulu.

About 78 percent of abaca fiber is processed locally and the balance exported in raw form. Othel Campos