Furniture, wood & rattan
Kapok fibre
Kapok is the floss around the seeds of the Ceiba pentandra tree, and Java has produced it commercially for generations. The fibres are hollow, extremely light and water repellent. They are also too short and too smooth to spin, so kapok is a filling material rather than a textile fibre.
How it leaves the country.
- Cleaned baled fibre
- The export trade. Ginned to remove seed and shell, compressed into bales. Everything about handling it comes back to the fact that it is almost weightless and takes enormous volume.
- Uncleaned or semi-cleaned
- Cheaper and it means you have bought seed and shell fragments. Worth buying only if you have the equipment to finish the cleaning.
- Kapok seed and seed cake
- A separate trade. The seed carries oil, and the cake after pressing goes to feed and fertiliser uses.
- Finished goods
- Pillows, cushions and mattresses filled in Indonesia. A different purchase, with the flammability and labelling questions attached to a finished product.
How it is graded.
There is no international grade scheme that buyers agree on, so kapok is bought on measurable cleanliness and on colour. Both are assessed by opening a bale rather than by reading a certificate.
- Seed and shell content
- The main axis. Every fragment of seed or shell is weight you paid for that has to be removed later, and it is the difference between a cheap offer and an expensive one.
- Colour
- Pale gold to light brown. Grey or blotchy fibre indicates rain damage or storage in damp conditions, and it does not recover.
- Fibre condition
- Kapok breaks down with rough handling and over-compression, and broken fibre loses the loft that is the reason to buy it at all.
- Moisture
- Plant fibre in the tropics. Baled damp, it heats and discolours, and you are paying freight on water in a commodity sold by weight.
- Foreign matter
- Leaf, twig and dust. Assessed by opening bales at random rather than by inspecting the outside of a stack.
- Flammability
- Kapok is a light, dry, lofty plant fibre and it burns readily. For bedding and upholstery into most developed markets there are flammability requirements on the finished article, and they are the buyer's to satisfy.
How it is packed.
- Compressed bales
- Wrapped and strapped. Compression is what makes the freight affordable and over-compression is what damages the fibre, so the bale density is agreed rather than left to the shipper.
- Volume before weight
- A container fills long before it reaches its weight limit, which inverts the usual loading arithmetic. Freight per kilo of kapok is high for this reason.
- Dry and covered
- The fibre absorbs and holds moisture from the air. Bales sitting on a wet yard before loading arrive discoloured.
- Fire precautions
- A container of dry plant fibre is a fire load. Warehouses that handle it treat it accordingly, and yours should ask how it is stored before it arrives.
Where it grows.
Central Java
Java
The traditional kapok area, with ginning and baling capacity built around the crop.
East Java
Java
Production with processing and a short route to Surabaya.
West Nusa Tenggara
Lesser Sunda
Drier growing conditions and a smaller trade, mostly moving through Java for processing.
Documentation, where applicable.
- Phytosanitary certificate
- An unprocessed plant fibre, so plant health is the central document and fumigation may be required for the destination.1
- Fumigation certificate
- Where the destination or the carrier requires treatment, issued against the consignment.
- Certificate of origin
- Which form applies depends on the destination and the preference scheme in force with Indonesia.
- Packing list
- Bale count, bale weight and bale marks. On a volume-limited commodity the packing list is how the freight is checked.2
Questions buyers ask.
Why can kapok not be spun?
The fibres are short, smooth and hollow, so they slide past each other instead of gripping. That same structure is what makes it light and buoyant, so the property that rules out yarn is the property buyers want.
Is kapok a sustainable filling?
It grows on a tree that is not felled to harvest it and it is biodegradable, which is a genuine advantage over synthetic fill. Any claim you make has to be defensible in your own market, so keep it to what the supply chain can evidence.
What flammability rules apply?
That depends on the finished article and the market it is sold in, and the obligation sits with whoever places the product on the market. Establish it before you order fibre, because a filling material that cannot legally go into your product is an expensive discovery.
How much fits in a container?
Far less by weight than you would expect, because kapok is almost all air. Plan the costing on volume from the start and get the bale density agreed in writing.
What does your service cost?
Five per cent of the order value, paid by you and never by the factory. A factory audit starts at $250 depending on location. We work with orders from $10,000 per shipment.
Tell us what you need.
Give us the specification and the destination port. We come back with producer options and an indicative price. Our fee is 5 % of the order value, paid by you and never by the factory.
Sources
- 1Badan Karantina Indonesia, the national quarantine agency. Republic of Indonesia. Checked 3 August 2026.
- 2Incoterms 2020: FCA or FOB?. ICC Academy, International Chamber of Commerce. Checked 3 August 2026.