Valorex tries to boost French production of linseed

Its objective is offering direct contracts with flax growers or via collectors to establish an indexed and guaranteed price for the main crop of the growers.

 

Valorex, which treated 50.000 tons of flax seed in 2010 – equivalent to 20,000 ha – is seeking to sign contracts surfaces in France to meet its needs.

 

The only French company that thermo-extrudes oilseeds to produce food and feed products contracts less than 9,000 ha in France, due to lack of producers interested in this culture. "We seek to significantly increase our supplies in France," said Stéphane Douabin, purchasing manager of Valorex. The company is forced to import more than half of its needs, including more than 6,500 ha harvest from the UK.

 

To encourage farmers to integrate French linseed in their rotations, the company holds up a contract price, "totally disconnected from the world price, and guarantees a margin per hectare equivalent to a production of wheat or canola."

 

The contract commits the producer to the same area for three years. The price is between €450 and €550 per tonne. "The final price is negotiated depending on the price of the chosen reference crop, wheat or rapeseed,” says Douabin. “The aim is that this award will allow producers to generate the same margin as when they grow their regular crops."