Expanding Horizons: Synthetics

According to an old adage "necessity is the mother of invention". This was perhaps never more credible than in World War II when blighted lands demanded and acquired man-made substitutes for basic raw materials that were in short supply. By the late 1930's, the foundation had been laid for what would eventually become a complex, multi-faceted and large-scale petrochemical industry; that of synthetics. Although initial research efforts were geared primarily towards early victory and the establishment of peace (or of sovereignty over another, depending on which view one favored), when the war was over, the goal of research was the application of the then new discoveries to peacetime pursuits.

Of meaningful interest to the cordage industry was the development and production of synthetic fibers such as nylon (one of the earliest produced), polyester, polypropylene,and polyethylene. These non-cellulosic fibers proved to be eminently suitable for the manufacture of cordage. In general, their superior strength, durability, and lower specific weights provided matchless advantages over natural fibers. In the 1950's, because of their higher production costs, synthetic ropes posed no immediate threat to those made of hard fiber. But by the latter part of the decade, a wide scale synthetic cordage production was on stream in the United States, and ropemakers could not fail to read the handwriting on the wall.

At Manila Cordage, the promotion of both hard fiber and synthetic ropes took parallel courses. However, from the time it began its Synthetics operations, production volume of synthetic ropes and twines rose steadily. Within the span of a few years, synthetic output had grown tremendously. Source: Maria Teresa Colayco. The Ropemakers Revisited.