The general assembly discussed the 2024 harvest. “I’m talking to you about the 2023 sowings, with winter flax whose harvest was normal, but with poor quality fibers and spring flax which suffered attacks from flea beetles, with a late harvest. But we were able to bring in 1,200 ha in five days at the last minute! »testifies Nicolas Defransure, the director. The yield of long fibers was low and the proportion of dust and waste high, whether in winter or spring linen.
Spring flax still benefited from a good price with an average fiber payment of €4.60/kg. Type 4 fibers are the most requested by spinning mills, 5 and 6 are the best in terms of quality. On the other hand, winter linen, of which 70% of the fibers were in class 3 (not sought after by customers), because of diseased feet, sold less well, at only €3.86/kg. “If we want to summarize: dry springs are favorable to winter flax and wet springs to spring flax. I think we should leave winter linen to the least favorable sectors and not exceed 25% of winter linen areas.”details the manager. As for organic flax, it was paid on average 4.53 €/ha, but it is difficult to market and will end up sold on conventional terms because there is no demand.
In terms of revenue, the best goes to spring textile flax at €4,955/ha, followed by winter flax at €3,902/ha and organic at €2,906/ha. “On average, we are at €4,771/ha on 4,619 ha, the cooperative’s best revenue for 7 years”analyzes Nicolas Defransure.
And tomorrow?
The demand for linen exists thanks to the work of the inter-professional sector, the market is still doing well while, otherwise, nothing is going well. How long will this last? Officials call for moderation of surfaces because “At this rate, our future new factory, which plans to double production capacity thanks to two new scutching lines, is already overwhelmed. Don’t forget that flax is a risky crop and that after one year at €4,000/ha, the next year could be zero.”points out the director.
He cites as proof that the samples taken from the 2025 harvest currently stored are not excellent, leading to potential disappointments.
“Currently, 40% of the 2025 harvest is stored on farms and the rest is rented outside. Its scutching, to the tune of 500 ha on June 1 of this year, should end in July 2027 and that of the 2026 harvest should begin in September 2027. I would like to take this opportunity to invite you to put together lots. A lot is a plot, a variety and a rolling date. If you mix several different linens, you will be paid in full at the price of the worst quality, which is unfavorable to you.specifies Pierre de Francqueville, deputy director. He points out the difficulties ahead in managing the postponement.
Between the 2025 and 2026 harvests, it will be necessary to store the equivalent of the production of 4,200 ha outside, which amounts to finding a building surface area of between 2.5 and 3.5 hectares. Hence another call for moderation of surfaces. Even with the construction of the new building and the two new scutching lines, there will be a delicate period during which everyone will have to be patient!
What is not cut is not sold and producers will have to wait to be paid in full, which is not without consequences for them.
Nevertheless, the cooperative’s accounts are solid, with an operating result of €3.3 million over 15 months, down due to the poor quality of 2024 fibers, for a full-year result of €2.3 million.
New factory
The news of Lin 2000 is of course the construction of the new factory, the work of which has not been delayed to date. The main building should be completed at the end of 2026, the scutching lines at the end of 2027 for a production launch in 2028. The new factory will cost €24.3 million, financed largely by recourse to borrowing from several banks and subsidies. It will double the scutching capacity, going from 20,000 to 40,000 t of processed straw, or around 7,200 ha in total.
“Getting it started is a real organizational challenge, I ask for patience. More broadly, we must moderate ourselves on surface areas, the Cuma linière is at saturation and we must not unbalance the market in a very disturbed geopolitical context”concludes President Sébastien Jumel.
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