Sunshine Hemp subsidiary aims to disrupt textile industry with cottonized hemp production facility, bringing jobs and economic potential to North Florida
SEATTLE, WA / ACCESSWIRE / October 28, 2021 / Renewal Fuels Inc. (OTC PINK:RNWF) (the "Company") today announces that its subsidiary, Sunshine Hemp Inc. has applied for a planning grant to fund its "Florida Hemp Fiber Innovation Project," a regional industrial hemp processing facility that will "cottonize" hemp for commercial textiles. The Company forecasts that Sunshine Hemp will recognize revenues of approximately $60 million within the first two years of production as it introduces an impactful new industry to the State of Florida.
Recognizing changes in the hemp cannabidiol (CBD) oil market and dislocations in the supply chain for farmers in the state, Sunshine Hemp's goal is to create, develop and prove feasibility of a prototype production facility and seed variety testing farm for the early steps of full commercialization of hemp in Florida. This will be a business sector incubator for the state; Sunshine Hemp will not focus on the CBD biomass or CBD components of the market.
"Sunshine Hemp is building a seed-to-sale infrastructure, satisfying the growing demand for sustainable materials and giving a much-needed push to Florida's economy, workforce and farming industry," stated Alka Badshah, CEO of Renewal Fuels. "The goal will be to jump start the development of a regional hemp fiber industry in North Florida using Florida State-approved hemp fiber seed genetics."
Funding, Economic Impact
Sunshine Hemp is working in cooperation with the Apalachee Regional Planning Council and Florida A&M University as part of its submission of a major planning grant to the U.S. Economic Development Agency (EDA), entitled "Forgotten Coast Coalition - Build Back Better Regional Challenge."
The key to this opportunity - and Sunshine Hemp's portion of the proposal - is to develop a state-of-the-art Hemp Innovation Processing Center in North Florida that will be a viable demonstration center as well as a commercial facility to produce cottonized hemp along with other hemp-based products such as hemp seed oil, hempcrete, hemp protein powder and others.
Phase I funding of the processing facility will cover seed genetics research, fiber processing equipment acquisition, and setup expenses. The funding will enable an industrial hemp processing and manufacturing capability with region-wide impact, which will convert the raw product into cottonized fibers as well as produce other derivatives and products. The EDA planning grant funding will allow Sunshine Hemp to finalize site development, construction plans, and equipment acquisition required by full grant funding in Q1 2022.
In addition to financial benefits for Sunshine Hemp, this project will provide several intangible benefits for the state of Florida including, carbon sequestration, production of sustainable materials and support of a new scalable industry in the state. It will create employment for about 50 workers directly and many more indirectly. All workers employed by Sunshine Hemp, including the blue-collar jobs, will meet or exceed the maximum rate of the U.S. living wage at or above $18 per hour.
This will also provide farmers in the region with a higher value / faster turnaround crop to replace the timber production enterprises devastated by Hurricane Michael and other storms.
In the first year of production, Sunshine Hemp conservatively projects about $20 million in revenue from finished fiber and other byproducts produced, with a margin of roughly 48%. In the second year, the company anticipates doubling that revenue to roughly $40 million and the margin goes up to 65%.
Cottonized Hemp Creates Scalable Opportunity
Sunshine Hemp is teaming with a hemp fiber processing technology company with a proprietary process to develop cottonized hemp fiber. The process utilizes ultrasonic waves in water to remove all the resins and abrasiveness of the fiber. This process allows the fiber to be directly utilized in current cotton mills without equipment changes or adjustments. The processed fiber can be immediately substituted as a raw material input in lieu of cotton, producing a higher value consumer product without factory modifications or product redesign. In current world markets, cottonized hemp fiber maintains a value multiplier of 2.5 times the value of cotton fiber.
Sunshine Hemp anticipates it will produce two crops of hemp fiber each season in North Florida and possibly three in South Florida. The production lines can be scaled to handle more hemp as demand grows. Each of the fiber line set-ups will produce 120 tons of cottonized hemp fiber with one shift per year; with two shifts, the output grows exponentially. The company's goal is to produce hemp seed oil and hempcrete that will require additional processing machinery which is much less expensive than the cottonized fiber machinery.
The Natural Fiber Market
Hemp fiber is categorized as a natural fiber for world commodity markets. Cotton is the dominate natural fiber commodity, capturing ~85% of the world market and establishing the natural fiber pricing for the world.
As of this writing, the current world price for cotton is $0.95 per pound. Forecasts of current production and consumption are allowing the pricing to be at the higher range not seen since 2011. Cottonized hemp fibers are an equal or better substitute for cotton, as the farming and production processes are more sustainable for hemp. As cottonized hemp fibers have begun to enter the natural fiber world markets, demand has been extremely high with supply being extremely low.
Sunshine Hemp is in discussions with two separate hemp fiber "cottonization" processing facility manufacturers. The company has discussed technology options with various U.S., Asian and European hemp fiber processing companies and is comparing quality, costs, capabilities, and adaptability to Florida. In addition, these manufacturers have distributors and denim and outerwear manufactures interested in purchasing U.S. grown hemp fiber.
Though demand for end-use hemp fiber products in the U.S. increases each year, there are very few hemp fiber production facilities in the U.S.; as of this writing, there are none in Florida.
Due to the U.S. supply deficiencies, clothing manufacturers are required to import the thread or materials from outside countries. Many small startup companies are forming and developing a small domestic availability of fibers, thread and material, but manufacturers are still seeking outside sources for large and continuous supplies. Sunshine Hemp aims to change that.
"It is our goal to produce fully researched Florida grown hemp fiber genetics and develop an industrial-scale hemp fiber processing facility that will produce hemp fiber at a consistent high-grade cottonized quality that will meet the specifications and needs of major clothing and apparel manufacturers," stated Sunshine Hemp President Jeff Sharkey. "This could make Sunshine Hemp and Florida a leader in this emerging hemp fiber industry."
CONTACT:
Dr. Jeffrey Sharkey
President, Sunshine Hemp
JeffreyShark@gmail.com
Doug Warren
Vice President,
Doug.Warren@SunshineHempFl.com
About Renewal Fuels Inc.
Renewal Fuels Inc. (OTC PINK:RNWF) is a Delaware-registered publicly traded company.
Renewal Fuels is a diversified business enterprise focused on providing valuable products and services to consumers and businesses in dynamic and emerging sectors. Through our subsidiaries and business sections, we provide financial and management advisory services, and financial technology services to customers in a variety of industries including the legal psilocybin, hemp and cannabis industry.
Website: https://www.RenewalHolding.com
Facebook: https://www.Facebook.com/RenewalFuelsInc/
Twitter: https://Twitter.com/RenewalFuelsInc
LinkedIn: https://www.Linkedin.com/Company/Renewal-Fuels/
For more information, please contact:
Alka Badshah
Info@RenewalHolding.com
About Sunshine Hemp Inc.
Located in Tallahassee, Florida, Sunshine Hemp was the first industrial hemp research company licensed by state authorities in Florida to research, produce and sell approved hemp genetics seeds and seedlings for growing in Florida. In partnership with Florida A&M University, Sunshine Hemp has been marketing and selling its state-authorized CBD and CBG "Pilot Project Approved Hemp" seeds and seedlings to the over 850 hemp growers across the state.
Forward-looking Statements
This news release contains "forward-looking statements" which are not purely historical and may include any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations, or intentions regarding the future. Such forward-looking statements include, among other things, the development, costs and results of new business opportunities and words such as "anticipate", "seek", intend", "believe", "estimate", "expect", "project", "plan", or similar phrases may be deemed "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results could differ from those projected in any forward-looking statements due to numerous factors. Such factors include, among others, the inherent uncertainties associated with new projects, the future U.S. and global economies, the impact of competition, and the Company's reliance on existing regulations regarding the use and development of cannabis-based products. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release, and we assume no obligation to update the forward-looking statements, or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Although we believe that any beliefs, plans, expectations, and intentions contained in this press release are reasonable, there can be no assurance that any such beliefs, plans, expectations, or intentions will prove to be accurate. Investors should consult all the information set forth herein and should also refer to the risk factors disclosure outlined in our annual report on Form 10-k, our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and other periodic reports filed from time-to-time with the Securities and Exchange Commission. For more information, please visit www.sec.gov.
SOURCE: Renewal Fuels, Inc.
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