Economic Benefits for New Zealand from Industrial Hemp

Hemp New Zealand™ began with a handful of seeds, and a very big dream. A dream to build a vibrant hemp industry in New Zealand.

$2 billion/yr and 20,000 Regional Jobs

The purpose of this report is to explore the commercial, regional, and environmental opportunity for investors in the Industrial Hemp sector in New Zealand. Author: Dr Nick Marsh

Executive Summary

The global research in this report paints a surprising picture for most New Zealanders. A big opportunity for the New Zealand economy, of which few are aware. In short, we could have another crop export success like Wine and Kiwifruit, but in a much shorter time. Hemp products are making a comeback globally into mainstream consumer markets as well as industrial markets, most notably in the Americas and across Europe.

NZ HEMP INVESTOR REPORTS

Read The Reports

A 28 page SNAPSHOT https://joom.ag/oSiC of the full report for investors, in the NZ iHemp industry.
A 60 page FULL REPORT https://joom.ag/attC for investors, in the NZ iHemp industry

Author: Dr Nick Marsh

Purpose Of Report

This report was commissioned by the NZ Hemp Industries Association Inc and funded by Agricultural and Marketing Research and Development Trust (AGMARDT). Its purpose is to inform interested parties and potential investors about what has already been achieved in the industry and the opportunities for growth; in particular the extraordinary opportunity for New Zealand to export into a burgeoning global industry in hemp foods, hemp fibre, and hemp health products .

The report is based on a substantial number of interviews and meetings across the industry and also desktop reviews of the literature relating to traditional knowledge, the science and international and national laws relating to the cannabis plant, and to hemp cultivars. In addition, a market scan has been undertaken of the global market in those countries where there are active industrial hemp sectors. The international scan includes an understanding of the ways in which law changes have allowed for the development of a market in hemp-based products. Finally, the 2030 forecast/ scenario was the result of collaboration with the CEO’s of several leading NZ hemp companies and the chairman of the NZIHA.

This report is about industrial hemp, a cultivar of the cannabis plant. Owing to the general prohibition on cannabis, it is necessary to discuss cannabis (marijuana) and medicinal cannabis. However, it is vital that the reader appreciates that industrial hemp, as compared to marijuana, is a non-psychoactive cultivar with enormous health and other benefits, as well as the potential to be a new export industry for New Zealand. It is hoped that this report will assist in overcoming the negative connotations around cannabis and give a new appreciation of the value of hemp.

Growing at 20% CAGR

Hemp manufacturing was for centuries a key economic sector from Asia to the Americas. But this was followed by eight decades of being wrongly designated as a narcotic drug. With the trend of changes to legalisation occurring in many countries the industry has had a resurgence of investment. It now has the potential to occupy again the heights of national economic value it once occupied through industrial fibre products, textiles, and natural health remedies. The leading Hemp countries are China, Canada, USA, France, Chile and North Korea.

The global hemp industry has been growing at 20% CAGR over the past 4 years, but is projected to grow from US$ 4.6 billion in 2019 at a 40% CAGR to US$64.8 billion by 2030.

The biggest share of this market is expected to be CBD and other cannabinoid products, as well as the rise of low and high tech fibre products in global markets. NZ companies are beginning to export in the premium seed oils category for the discerning global consumers in the major cities of the world. This will be followed by fibre exports as processing plants are built, and cannabinoid nutraceuticals as and when they are legalised in New Zealand.

The Key Growth Driver

The mega trends driving hemp growth include:

‘Regenerative Agriculture and sustainability’- the drive
for a more sustainable world.
‘Hemp and CBD’ – the drive for natural health solutions.
‘Plant revolution’- the drive to replace meat and dairy
with plant based substitutes.

Product Categories

The three main product categories are:

Seeds – manufactured into oils for consumer products including natural health products, food supplements, powders, and balms, and also industrial products.
Fibre – from the Bast and Hurd in the Stalk – is manufactured into a wide range of textiles, paper, and building materials.
Extracts – cannabinoids, terpenes and flavonoids extracted from the flowers and leaves into distillates and isolates, of which the largest market is CBD (cannabidiol).

One Hectare Of Hemp Can Produce

250 litres of hemp seed oil used for everything from paint,
to food-grade culinary oil. High-quality food grade hemp seed
oil retails for up to NZD$75 per litre; or
One metric tonne of hemp seed, a nutritious cereal that is rich
in easily digestible protein and omega 3 fatty acids. (Hulled hempseed retails for up to NZD$70 per kilogram); or
Three metric tonnes of hemp fibre, valuable for the manufacture of rope and textiles – retails for around
NZD$2 per kilogram;or retails for around NZD$2 per kilogram; or
Six metric tonnes of hemp hurd (pulp),useful for the production of paper
and construction materials such as hempcrete (retails for around NZD$1 per kilogram).

Returns From Hemp

Seed prices per ton NZ$4,000-5,000
Fibre prices per ton US$500 – depends on the specification

HECTARE	SEED	FIBRE
Yield	800-1,000 kg	8-10 tonnes Dry Weight
Value per kg	NZ$4.00-NZ$5.50	$225/350 kg Bale
Revenue	$3,200-$5,500	$5,150-$6,450
Seed rate and cost $20/kg	1-30 kg = $20-$600	30-50 kg = $600-$1,000
Gross Margin	$1,500-$4,500/hectare	$2,500-$4,000/hectare

These calculations are estimates, and are subject to environmental and other conditions, which could cause crop failures and no earnings. Irrigated land can yield higher than the target ranges above.

What are the Growth prospects for the NZ Hemp Industry?

The NZ industrial hemp industry is a commercial startup which, despite cultivation and research activity since 2006, has in fact only been able to really develop commercially since the Industrial Hemp Regulations were amended at the end of 2018. Even in that short time a substantial industry has built up particularly around hemp seeds and oil, along with an increasing consumer awareness of the health benefits of hemp food and other products.

Fibre (bast and hurd) is available and used for animal bedding but will be able to develop further when the first decortication plant is built later this year. The industries which have shown interest in substituting hemp fibre for less sustainable raw materials include Road building and Supermarket packaging. Kiwi university researchers are actively pursuing several innovations with commercialisation options.
The lesson from Wine and Kiwifruit among other high value food industries is that substantial industry growth will only be achieved through an aggressive
export strategy, and hemp can respond to this challenge. Some hemp seed companies are already beginning to export.
The hemp industry has much to learn about ‘discerning consumer markets‘ from the wine, honey, kiwifruit, and the natural health products exporters, which have implemented successful high value export strategies utilising the powerful New Zealand country ‘brand story’.

Two Hemp Export-Led Growth Scenarios
Leaders in the industry have developed two 2030 growth scenarios for Hemp in New Zealand:

SCENARIO 1
(Status quo) is simply based on a political failure to reform the current regulations: Which removes nutraceuticals but leaves the seed and fibre products
estimated at $500 million with around 5,000 new jobs

SCENARIO 2
Is based on political reform of the nutraceutical regulations, and forecasts total earnings of $2.0 billion; from $183 million in seed products, and $317 in fibre products, $1.5 billion in hemp nutraceuticals from cannabinoids, and 20,000 new jobs in the regions.

Regional growth – How hemp is grown and processed in regional clusters building on the platform laid by existing companies:
North Island
Hemp Connect, Pure Heart Aotearoa, Hemptastic,Aotearoa, Hemp NZ, Hemp Farm, Ligar Extraction, Kakariki Fine Foods and Kanapu

South Island
Midlands Nutritional Oils, NZ Yarn, Hopefield Hemp, Larrys Gold, Hemp Cottage Farm

2030 NEW ZEALAND HEMP INDUSTRY SCENARIO 2	Domestic market	Export market	Total market
CANNABINOID EXTRACTS PRODUCT SALES Bulk CBD CBD Pet Foods CBD Beverages Balms CBD Oil and tinctures CBD for high performance athletes Animal Feeds	$300mil	$1.2mil	$1.5bil
HEMP SEED OIL PRODUCTS SALES Bulk Pressed oils- bulk 20% Premium Pressed oils -own brand- 5% Pressed oils (cannabinoids removed) 1% Nutraceutical extracts from seeds / hulls 5% Seeds and fibre for food manufacturers 50% Premium Own brand /health products 19%	$37mil	$146mil	$183mil
FIBRE PRODUCT SALES High tech textiles for high end clothing Hemp bio-composite materials Technical fabrics High end carpets High tech laminate Hemp wood alternative (building materials) New high tech fibre application Supercapacitors & graphene type applications Low tech laminate (vs plywood & bamboo) Insulation Furniture 3D filament	$63mil	$254mil	$317mil
TOTAL REVENUES	$400mil	$1.60bil	$2.0bil
NEW JOBS CREATED	5,000		20,000

Recommendation

With the benefit of hindsight the laws and regulations governing the hemp regulations in NZ had unforeseen negative consequences. These are now restricting the competitiveness of NZ in this global sector which is
growing at a rate of 20% per year and is expected to reach around NZD$90 billion by 2030.

Hemp offers major export driven economic growth and regional jobs if/when the current regulations are tweaked to open up the fast growing cannabinoid food ingredient and nutraceutical global market to NZ companies. (See legal discussion pg 46-48 of THE FULL REPORT) – https://joom.ag/attC/p46