Raw silk
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In 1938, total world production of raw silk amounted to 56,400 tons, of which 43,150 tons (76%) was supplied from Japan. By 1970, world output had dropped to 40,000 tons with Japan remaining the leading supplier (20,500 tons). The next largest supplier was China (10,000 tons).Although synthetics have replaced silk for many purposes, the production of silk is still of considerable importance; its softness, durability and lustre cannot be duplicated synthetically.In the production of raw silk, silkworm cocoons are boiled in water for about ten minutes to kill the pupae and facilitate the unreeling of the silk filament.Then the ends of several filaments are picked up, passed through a concentrator and reeled. The weight of finished silk filament yarn is expressed in denier; the thickness of one filament being two to three denier.
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