European farmers are losing their interest in growing flax, says the head of market research for grain trader Toepfer International.
Klaus Schumacher said he won’t be surprised to see flax plantings in the European Union fall below 495,000 acres next year, a level not seen since the early 1980s.
“Linseed is going to be a dying crop in the crop rotation,” said Schumacher. “It’s going to be phased out more and more.”
This should be positive for Canadian flax exports and world flax prices, he said.
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Changes in direct payments to EU farmers are to blame for flax’s flagging fortunes.
Direct aid to farmers for oilseeds is dropping by 40 percent over two years.
Canola will still be financially competitive with grain, but not flax in most years, Schumacher said.
That’s because European flax yields have not gained at the same pace as canola and grain.
This year, European farmers planted 692,000 acres of flax, slightly higher than recent averages.
In 1999-00, they planted 1.35 million acres because of weather problems with winter cereals.
Schumacher expects European buyers will import 500,000 tonnes of flax this year. Imports will likely grow as EU production drops off, he said, adding most imports will come from Canada.
The head of the world’s largest linoleum producer also brought positive news about demand for flax to the recent Agri-Food 2000 conference in Winnipeg.
“We really think there’s a steady business for us, but also for you,” said Pieter Hartog of Forbo-Krommenie BV, which has a 60 percent share of the world market for the flax-based flooring.
The company believes it can grow its sales by 10 percent per year by 2005, said Hartog.
In 1998-99, linoleum production used five to seven percent of the 800,000 to 850,000 tonnes of linseed oil crushed in the world, he said.
Canadian flax accounts for 70 to 75 percent of world flax trade, Hartog noted.
