Records for crop reports year 2007

We publish hereunder the crop reports issued by SANECO during the crop 2007 regarding all production areas.

FINAL CROP REPORT - OCTOBER 31st 2007

We can evaluate the production of fibres from the crop 2007 as follow:

(Quantities of short fibres calculated in equivalent of rescutched tows)

The above figures are estimations from information provided by flax farmers, scutchers and flax associations around the world and are subject to adjustments after a few months of production.

The stocks of long fibres from previous crops in E.U. should cover the decrease of the world production and fulfill the world demand from spinners in the next 12 months.

Averagely, the qualities are poorer than usually in European countries, Russia, Belarus and Ukraine but better than usually in Egypt and China. Consequently we can expect an increase of hectares in China and Egypt for 2008.

The production areas in E.U. countries for 2008 are expected to be 5 to 30 % less according to regions but it is difficult to give you today an average.

CROP REPORT - SEPTEMBER 21st 2007

FRANCE, BELGIUM, THE NETHERLANDS

LONG FIBRES:

Available long fibres from the new crop:

At this time, the new crop is expected to be at a level of 75,000 MT of long fibres according to the pessimistic scutchers and 80,000 MT - maybe 85,000 MT according to the optimistic ones taking into consideration that from 5000 to 9000 Ha (subject to final confirmation) have finally been burnt due to their low quality.

To have a as soon as possible a clear situation of the new crop, the scutchers decided to scutch during one month the new crop to be able to make a precise evaluation of the new crop which is difficult to guess without scutching tests.

stock situation:

The stock of long fibres from previous amounts to 65,000 MT but about 20% have been frozen by the association Cipalin who does not intend to sell them in the coming 12 months except in case of lack of fibres.

Offer Situation:

Theoretically, 140,000 till 155,000 MT will be available to cover the world demand but the final quantity will depend on the prices rise because between 5 to 15 % of the harvested hectares will not be worth scutching if the prices do not increase sharply and in case they are scutched, they may be difficult to sell because of their low quality.

In this particular case the offer could be in shortage and this will push the prices up except if the world demand drops consecutively in the coming months.

We should take into consideration that the fashion trends for the coming season “summer 2008” are good after the main European exhibitions of the last 2 weeks. Most professionals think that at the end of the season (August 2008) the stocks of flax fibres in the world will be at a very low level.

Prices trends:

On September 19th, most of the scutchers from Western Europe had a meeting and strongly wish to sell the long fibres from old and new crop with a 30 % increase to follow the rises of wheat, colza and others agro-food products. There is a high competition between cultures and they said that such increase will prevent a sharp drop in flax area productions in 2008.

They hope that the flax yarns and linen fabrics prices will increase also in the meantime to recover profitability in the full chain from flax seeds to finished linen products.

For the time being, expecting a decrease of area productions in 2008 and a stable demand due to the fashion trends, some speculators have already bought this week long fibres from crop 2006 at 20 % more than last July.

SHORT FIBRES:

We expect to have the same amount of flax tows in the new crop as last year (100,000 MT at the stage of unscutched) with much more qualities for paper mills, less for cottonizing and very few for tow yarns. The prices of fine and clean tows (only available in west European countries) should increase as there is no stock at all (all the 2006 production has been sold on a daily basis).

CROP REPORT - SEPTEMBER 7th 2007

FRANCE, BELGIUM, THE NETHERLANDS

The weather has been favourable for the last 2 weeks and the last fields pulled at the end of August are being gathered these days, they are rather blond.

A few thousand hectares were burnt in the fields because of poor quality and low yields of long fibres but finally most of the crop was gathered safely.

The best production areas are: Belgium, North of France, Calvados, Oise and Seine-et-Marne.

The heart of Normandy and the Eure Department suffered this year of excess of rains.

The Netherlands suffered from drought in April and its straw yields will be very low (below 4 MT/ha).

We don’t know yet the fibres content of the plants which should be lower than in the previous crops because of bad growing and retting conditions.

Consequently some scutchers expect lower long fibre yields than we announced in our last report dated August 24th but today we do not wish to change our estimation before we receive the results of the first scutching trials that will be made in the coming weeks.

The official surfaces of production areas in Europe are the following: (Hectares sown)

Based on our first evaluation dated August 24th, we can expect to get from the Crop 2007 about 85000 to 90000 tons of long fibres and 55000 to 60000 tons of short fibres if all the gathered hectares can be scutched.

Most of the scutchers announced that they intend to scutch immediately the new crop in order to sell it in priority and to keep in stock more valuable straws issued from the previous crop. They will meet on Wednesday 12th September in order to discuss prices trends.

CROP REPORT - AUGUST 24th 2007

FRANCE, BELGIUM AND THE NETHERLANDS

We apologize for the late issuing of our crop report scheduled on 21st and delayed due to a technical reason.

The dry weather forecasted early August to start the pulling works lasted only a few days (from August 3rd to 6th) then the rains came again in most of the producing areas and remained during all the month with the consequence that pulling operations were costly and are not yet finished. Today, 5% of the fields remain not pulled and will be harvested in the coming days or burnt if the qualities and yields are too low to compensate the scutching costs.

The weather is expected fine until Wednesday August 29th and few rains are expected afterwards. It will allow to do the turning operations or to continue the baling of retted fields. About 25% of the fields have been baled today more or less according to the regions; Belgium and Seine et Marne are the most advanced areas, nearly finished.

After the heavy rains of the last few weeks, especially in France, the qualities of the straws have deteriorated and it will contribute also to lower the yields of the coming crop. We expect a production of long fibres around 1000 kilos per Hectare if we can finish the crop in good weather conditions.

From all production areas we will get medium/low qualities of fibres suitable mainly to spin from Nm 15 to Nm 28; the superior qualities will be very few due to the bad growing and retting conditions. Moreover the new crop will not be homogeneous in strength and colour so the heavy stocks from the previous crops will regain of interest after the severe selection made by the buyers during the last 12 months.

The yields are expected, subject to favourable weather conditions in the next weeks, from 5 till 9 MT of straws per Ha (averagely around 6-6,5 MT) and 10 till 20% of long fibres (averagely 16%). The quantities of lower grades of tows will be important and we should get very few quantities of superior tows.

We should get consequently at least 50% less of fibres compared to the last two crops which were in excess but the accumulated stocks for 2 years should be enough to supply the world demand, except for the superior qualities (Nm 32 and up) the prices level of which should be soon under pressure.

The information from various others crops in China, Russia, Belarus and Ukraine which are always later than western European crops are normal, we will provide you detailed information when the straws will be gathered.

CROP REPORT - AUGUST 3d 2007

FRANCE, BELGIUM, THE NETHERLANDS

The dry weather conditions forecast in our last report on July 20 are confirmed and we will have good conditions to finish the pulling operations in France, Belgium and the Netherlands in the coming week.

In the meantime the first fields which have been pulled out early July are already retted and balled.

We will issue the next detailed crop report on August 21st as soon as we have a first idea on retting status of the European crop and more information on the crops in the other countries.

CROP REPORT - JULY 2Oth 2007

FRANCE, BELGIUM, THE NETHERLANDS

 It was raining heavily last Monday and again yesterday and today in all the regions. There were also hail storms in some places. Consequently the pulling out works have stopped again and should restart sooner or later according to the quantities of rains which varies from 5 to 80 mm in the various flax areas.

 The scutchers are worrying because they are late in the pulling-out works which can be guessed as follows:

FRANCE:
 Nord- Pas de Calais : 5-10 % of the surfaces
 North Normandy: 20 %
 South Normandy: 40-60 %
 Seine et Marne: 75 %
BELGIUM: 20-30 %
THE NETHERLANDS: 20-30 %

Nevertheless, the crop is not jeopardised. Despite the -various lying downs of flax plants, they are not yet much rotten because the temperatures were quite low during the last 5 weeks of rains. On the contrary, the flax seeds were damaged and it will be collected less quantities which should compromise the supply of good qualities seeds for sowing next year.

The first flax plants pulled-out last week can now be turned and they should be gathered in about 7 days.

The plants which were pulled-out Tuesday and Wednesday did not have time to toss so they will be rather light in colour.

The new pulling machines enable the scutchers to pull out the lied down plants more easily than the years before and preserve more the long fibres yields, so the crop will be quite normal in quantity but with various status in qualities and more heterogeneity.

Even if the weather forecasts are not so good for next week, the high pressures and sunny weather should be back on July 27-28Th to complete the pulling operations...Then rains will be needed again to ret the straws!

BELARUS
 30% of the crop will be of low quality because of drought & heavy rains few weeks ago. Some of the fields are laid down. Pulling has not yet started. Today the weather is quite good - there are no heavy rains, only few showers.

UKRAINE
 The pulling is just starting.

CHINA
 During the past two weeks, there were some rains in Heilongjiang area. This was very important for the growth of flax plants. In Xinjiang area, the weather is correct. Local people started to harvest flax.

CROP REPORT - JULY 6th 2007

FRANCE, BELGIUM, THE NETHERLANDS

WARNING :

picture 1

 The weather in June has been very rainy (up to 150 liters/m2). For example there were only 108 hours of sun in June in Lille,(France) which did not happen since 1954. The pulling out of straws did not start yet except 60% in Seine et Marne Department and few percents in other departments and in Belgium and the Netherlands. The weather should be dry in the next few days, but after heavy rains early this week soils are too wet (picture 1) to support pulling machines and some will be accessible only after one or two weeks of dry weather.

picture 2

 We can see also on picture 2 the juxtaposition of mature flax from the first germination and young plants from the second germination which should be one of the main cause of irregularity (difference in length and strength)this year.

picture 3

picture 4

 Moreover many fields are layed down more (picture 3) or less (picture 4) according to their maturity. It will be difficult and most costly this year to achieve the pulling operation within July.

EASTERN EUROPE

Lithuania : In Lithuania the most advanced flax plants are 1 m high and are finishing to blossom now. Weather forecast is : temperatures 12-20 degrees with daily rainfalls and thunderstorms, with a risk of lay down for the straws. Pulling out is expected at the end of July. The flax plant which were sown later are about 50 cm high.

Latvia : In Latvia flax plants are about 50 to 80 cm high, they will soon blossom. Weather forecast is : temperature 12-20 degrees with daily rainfalls.

Ukraine and Bielorussia : There are no such significant changes. The seeds holders are being formed now. The flax is reaching maturity and the height varies very much from one field to another.

CHINA

During the past two weeks, the weather in Yili (Xinjiang) area was normal, while in Heilongjiang area the weather was quite dry, with few rains.

We will continue to inform you every fortnight.

CROP REPORT - JUNE 22nd 2007

FRANCE, BELGIUM, THE NETHERLANDS

After suffering from drought in April, the flax fields are now suffering from an excess of almost daily rainfalls. Most of the fields have already laid down one or several times, and unfortunately the weather forecast for the ten coming days is unchanged (temperature of 10 to 22 ° C, with daily rainfalls).
Consequently, the fields will be affected according to their growing state:

  for the fields sown early March, the length is about 70 cm with good maturity so they should not be affected except for the fact that the pulling originally scheduled from June 25th could be postponed.

  The fields sown later in March and in early April have just finished to blossom, with flax plants that have a length of 80 to 100 cm. They grew fast in the last few weeks because of a humid and mild weather. They are suffering from those frequent rainfalls and their quality and strength could be reduced due to their lack of maturity. It will decrease the long fibre yield, to the advantage of the tow yield and some fibres could be rotten in case of continuous rains in the coming two weeks.

According to the saying of old flax farmers, “flax can lay down and get up seven times”. To conclude the final status of the crop is still uncertain and will depend on the weather during the coming two weeks.

EGYPT

All the scutching machines are working now, except two or three of them. The long fibre yield and quality are good. The demand of long and short fibres started soon after the beginning of production.

EASTERN EUROPE

In Lithuania the first fields that were sown are now about 90cm high and they are starting to blossom. 20% of the fields, which were sown later, are about 40cm high. There is enough heat and humidity.

In Latvia flax plants are about 70-80cm high, except for the last fields that were sown, which are about 40cm high. Heat and humidity are correct.

The weather forecast for Lithuania and Latvia is good for flax in the coming week.

Ukraine : The flax plants started to blossom when they were 30-40 cm high. There is drought in Ukraine with rare rains. The temperature is warm with heights up to 40°C. It will certainly affect the issue of the crop, in terms of quantity and quality.

Belarus: The flax plants started to blossom when their length was between 60 and 90 cm depending on the region. The weather is unsettled, with drought in some places and strong short rain in others. Some fields are laying down. The beginning of harvesting is forecast in 15-20 days.

CHINA

The weather continues to be normal in Xinjiang/Yili area. In Heilongjiang province, the weather is quite good compared to the past few years. Local people expect good yield for this year crop if the weather continues to be good in the coming weeks.

CROP REPORT - JUNE 4th 2007

FRANCE, BELGIUM, THE NETHERLANDS

We had the best weather conditions since May 15th with frequent rains (from 60 up to 160 mm) and mild temperature days and nights long all over western European flax areas, what will partially compensate the drought in April. Some advanced fields may lay down in case of rains mid June as forecasted.

Flax plants from early sowings in southern areas are averagely between 50 and 70 cm high but the last sown fields vary between 20 and 40 cm.

The double germination will increase the heterogeneity of the new crop in terms of length expecting higher tow yields than in the previous crops.

The heterogeneity is also varying much from field to field according to the dates and conditions of soils’ preparation and sowing in all the regions.

The forecasted weather conditions in the coming 10 days should be fine contributing to increase the potential volumes of long and short fibers in the coming crop.

The blossom is expected as follow :
 nowadays for the first fields sown mid March
 around 10/15th of June for the fields sown at the end of March
 around 15/21st of June for the last fields sown early April.

The final status of the crop still remains uncertain and will depend on weather conditions in June.

EGYPT

The deseeding operations will end soon and scutching has started last week. The scutching operations should increase gradually in the four coming weeks. It is too early to give information about the quality of the new crop as the first retted straws are not representative of the whole crop. Nevertheless, we expect a normal/strong quality this year with 8 tons of none retted straws per Ha and 800 Kg of each long and short fibers per Ha. This is subject to final confirmation in our next crop report.

EASTERN EUROPE

Poland:

The sowings are finished. Production areas are not yet clear but it seems that about 5,000 Ha were sown. Flax growing is not good because of some frost in April ( the temperature on the ground in some places decreased till minus 7°C / minus 8°C below zero) The flax plants in the fields are about 15cm high.

Ukraine:

Hectares decreased sharply till 10000 ha - 12000 ha. There is no rain till today. We will provide you more information in the next report.

Belarus:

Belarus has officially sown 72000 ha (may be a little bit more).In the western and northern parts of the country, where rains falled, flax plants are quite good. The central and southern parts remain without rain since May 15th. The temperature was high last week, up to +31° C during the day. Flax is now from 15 cm to 40 cm high.

The highest plants are the ones which were sown at the end of March. Most surfaces of Belarus were sown after Easter.

Latvia

Latvia has sown around 1500 Ha. Up to now, about 50% of flax plants are 15cm high. About 30% are 10cm high and about 20% of the sowings are not yet finished. Growing conditions are very good: enough humidity and heat.

Lithuania

The sown surface is around 1000Ha. In this country, about 80% of flax plants are 20 cm high and in another 20% of the surfaces sowing is not yet finished. Growing conditions are very good, too: enough humidity and heat.

The weather forecast is good for flax growing in the coming week.

CHINA

113400 Ha of textile flax were sown in 2007:

  46,700 in Heilongjiang province
  40,000 in Xinjiang province
  26,700 in Yunnan province

Sowings have just finished and it is too early to collect information about growing. Up to now, the weather in these provinces is normal.

CROP REPORT - MAY 15th 2007

FRANCE, BELGIUM, THE NETHERLANDS

Fortunately it rained on April 29th in the southern areas (Eure, Calvados) and from May 7th in northern France as well as in Belgium/the Netherlands with a cumulated level until today of 25 mm and more.

Eure Department had the best climate conditions and blossom will start at the end of May. In later sowing areas, flax will blossom mid June.

Flax plants from the first germination are averagely between 15 and 30 cm high (the highest are 40 cm) according to sowing dates and rainfalls. It is not that high after 2 months growing.

It is important to get moderate temperatures and steady rainfalls in the coming month to optimize the straw yields which are still expected to be below the previous crops levels.

June is always the most important month for flax fibres in terms of quality and quantity.

CROP REPORT - April 27th 2007

FRANCE - BELGIUM - THE NETHERLANDS

The germination of the first sowings (30%) made in France before the heavy rains at the end of March was rather good. The sowings made end March/early April (20%) were not made in good conditions (2000 Ha of them were re-sown. The balance (50%) in France, Belgium and the Netherlands has various status according to the nature of soils, the preparation of fields and local rainfalls early April.

All the production areas are suffering from dryness ever since. April has been the hottest month for more than 50 years and it is very important to have rains (at least 25 mm/M²) to feed the young plants or even to start a second germination of various percentages of seeds not yet germinated. Consequently the fields are not homogeneous at this stage and the issue of the crop will be critical if we do not have rains within 2 weeks.

The fibres’ yields should be definitively lower than in the previous crops and the market becomes nervous, even if the level of long fibres stocks remains at its highest for the last 10 years (5 months of production)

EGYPT

The production area has doubled in 2007 to reach 17000 ha. The growing of that winter crop in Egypt was good, thanks to irrigation boosted by few rainfalls. The pulling is just finished and farmers are deseeding the straws before retting in watertanks, then scutching. The fibres from new crop will be only available from June onwards.

EASTERN EUROPE AND CHINA

There is no available information yet from these countries, who are sowing flax.

CROP REPORT - April 10th 2007

The sowings in West European countries are finished on 9O% of the surfaces and should be over this week due to a good weather forecast. Because of heavy rains on March 31st and April 1st in Calvados and Eure Departments, the sowings are slightly late compared to usually but averagely they were made on time in Belgium, France and The Netherlands.

The decrease of production areas shouldn’t be as important as expected due to the cancellation of some quota of sugar beet in February 2007.

In 2006, the real surfaces sown were:
 In France: 75392 hectares
 In Belgium: 16000 hectares
 In the Netherlands: 4358 hectares
 In other countries: 6500 hectares Total: 102 250 hectares.

In 2007, the decrease should be around 5/7 % in France, 15/20 % in Belgium and 12/20 % in The Netherlands. It is due to lower yields and revenue per hectare from the crop 2006 (even if the unit prices have increased by 15% in the meantime).

The soils were still wet in many places after the heavy rains in March in all the production areas (especially in Normandy). The soils structure is less good than last year because of very few frosts. To turn the soil finer, the farmers had to work the soils one more time with the machines but the weather will be determining for the quality and yields of the coming crop.

The stocks of long fibres are still slightly increasing due to the difficulties of the fabric market which did not increase in the past months. The prices of long fibres remain firm due to the decision of the European farmers and scutchers (CIPALIN) on March 27th to frost up to 15,000 MT until 31st December 2007 (renewable).

In opposite, the stock of short fibres is very low and the prices are continuously suffering the pressure of high demand from all sectors. This could affect the demand in the coming months as some sectors (paper and automotive) start to reduce their needs.