For centuries, thanks to its ports for the supply of cotton and its rivers, which provided energy for machines and mills, Normandy was the melting pot of textiles and in particular spinning. As with many industries requiring a large workforce, with high costs as a result, this know-how left France first for countries in Eastern Europe, then Europe. ‘Asia.
Today, the health crisis, the leveling of wages, the explosion of transport costs or even the loss of markets are reshuffling the cards. It is in the midst of this dynamic that the agro-industrial group Natup, with its community of 7,000 farmers and its 1,800 employees, has just produced its first kilos of wet linen yarn in the brand new French Filature in Saint-Martin-du- Linden (Eure). An authentic act of relocating a lost know-how.
The adage that “no one is a prophet in his country” risks being contradicted this time. Indeed, Normandy is the world’s leading producer of flax with 527,900 tonnes over 73,315 hectares (2019 figures provided by Agriscopie). But 60% of the long fibers extracted after scutching and combing go to China to become clothes. For information, one hectare of linen can provide 800 shirts, 1500 blouses or even 500 skirts.
Until now (almost) no one complained about the back and forth of this sector. Except that, recently, “the Covid-19 arrived. The Asians have stopped buying ribbons (combed linen) from us. Other solutions had to be found. Now we comb part of the production for ourselves,” explained Karim Behlouli, director of the Fibers branch of the Natup group when the first meters of wet linen yarn 100% made in France were released.
Thus, from its European unit, the cooperative has just invested 4 million euros to start spinning: “We have the raw material on our territory. We have the know-how in terms of scutching and combing. Here we are already making the ribbons which we are now transforming into wicks. After bleaching and wetting at a subcontractor in the Hauts de France, we now know how to stretch the yarn in white or ecru, dry it and wind it in 1.5 or 2 kilos. Customers will be able to dye it as they wish,” detailed Serge Nowaczyk, site manager who was a spinner 20 years ago at Leblanc spinning in Lille.
With this fine linen yarn, La French Filature is targeting the sector of weavers and knitters “whose clients are interested in traceability and 100% made in France”. “At the production price, developed Karim Behlouli, with 250 tons of maximum production here, i.e. 1.25 million shirts or 750,000 pants, we are betting on quality, because our goal is not to compete with the Chinese competition which also masters the technique, but to meet the demand of French industries, particularly high-end and luxury. We are in a small market niche. »
The first link in a missing link
For Jean-Charles Deschamps, the president of Natup, “we had to leave first. It was necessary to seek funding and politicians who believe in this project, such as Hervé Morin, President of the Normandy region (who provided financial support of up to one million euros as part of an investment plan future sectors). Of course, we are not going to upset the world of spinning with wet flax, but all this gives meaning to our territory. Linen is a local product, the French Filature makes it stand out. It is a first link in the missing link”.
For the moment, 27 employees from the combing department have been assigned to the French Filature: “Our goal is to recruit around thirty more quickly. This will generate formations. It’s a job that has completely disappeared from France, so we’ll have to rely on manufacturers to train machine operators. We have already done a first theoretical session for internal staff in June 2021. Now we will take care of the practical aspect over several weeks. You have to relearn everything even if the technique hasn’t changed much since the 19th century”, adds the site director. The entire company thus hopes for a complete start-up of the production line by the beginning of June.