Cost of the new biotechnological process using G. thermoglucosida-

retting

In Table 4.1 a comparison between the conventional dew retting process and the biotech-nological process is shown. The prices considered for the calculation were provided by the project partner Holstein Flachs and were taken from actual processing costs.

The value of the bacterial treatment in the pilot plant was taken considering the price of yarn dyeing, as provided by the company Eing Textilveredlung und Handelsgesellschaft GmbH & Co.KG (personal communication, 2008). Actual coloring prices were ∼3 e/kg for using the standard conditions. This value would make the biotechnological process

unprofitable.

A lower cost of the proposed bacterial treatment was considered (700 e/t) because the process would take place in a low-tech plant build specifically for flax retting. The yields shown in the Table 4.1 are actual process yields. The bold type numbers are the values that can be modified (assumptions), whereas the other values are calculated from them. The calculation considers a 12% risk harvest reduction bond, for avoiding the loss of the crop because of bad weather. The yields of the biotechnological process were taken from Table 3.9 of Section 3.11.

The positive consequences of using the biotechnological process, would be that more byproducts could be recovered and also more revenue from them. The yield and quality of seeds would be also higher. Since the shive would not be degraded by dew retting, more shives would be recovered and could be sold for animal bedding or composites. Also the treatment time would be reduced to a couple of days, instead of 4-6 weeks. The agricultural fields would be free in late summer and probably a second late crop could be also farmed. This could mean an important economical advantage to the farmer.

Fibers required for classical long spinning must have a uniform quality. Under-retting would produce a coarse yarn suitable only for coarse fibers or ropes. Over-retting would result in fiber loss during processing and a weak yarn with limited applications. The fiber length and fineness are critical and are heavily related to retting. The value of a batch can vary depending on its quality up to 100%. The prices fluctuate strongly year by year depending on supply and demand [11]. Also the fiber variety and processing method have a significant impact on fiber quality and therefore on price. In addition the fiber prices vary according to the target application [8]. Prices of short flax fibers are variable and ranged from around 300 e/t for the special paper industry, through 350-650 e/t for textile fibers, to 500-600 e/t for composite materials in 2005 [16].

However, for this exercise values close to the annual average were used. A price of 0.65 e/kg and 1.8 e/kg was considered for the dew retted tow and line. For the

“biotechnologically” produced tow and line (usingG. thermoglucosidasius PB94A), prices of 0.80 e/kg and 2.10 e/kg were used. It was assumed that the latter had a superior quality. In the case that the fiber quality was just the same as the dew retted fiber, the profit would disappear. The values depicted in Table 4.1, correspond already to a positive scenario.

The cost effectiveness of the process with G. thermoglucosidasius PB94A depends among other aspects, on how many times the solutions can be reused. Another advantage of reusing the solutions is that the need for effluent treatment would be minimized, sinking the costs even further.

Table 4.1: Flax fiber process cost comparison between dew retted fiber and the

harvesting (pulling, baling, transport) – – 450 –

subtotal field costs 1850 e/ha 1650 e/ha

unretted flax straw yield – – 8 t/ha

retted straw yield 7.2 t/ha – –

fiber in stem 30% 0 30% 0

processable fibre 2.2 t/ha 2.6 t/ha

fiber yield after treatment 70% – 82% –

fiber yield after raw combing – – 68% –

line flax 1.5 t/ha 1.7 t/ha

tow 0.6 t/ha 0.4 t/ha

seeds in food quality – – 0.7 t/ha

seeds for oil use 0.1 t/ha – –

scutching incl. tow scutching 270 e/t 320 e/t

swinging 1944 e/ha 2560 e/ha

bacterial treatment in the pilot plant 0 – 700 e/t

bacterial treatment and fine scutching 0 – 1785 e/ha subtotal processing costs 1944 e/ha 4345 e/ha total field and processing costs 3794 e/ha 5995 e/ha

line flax price 1.8 e/kg 2.1 e/kg

line flax revenue 2722 e/ha 3641 e/ha

price tow 0.65 e/kg 0.80 e/kg

tow revenue 421 e/ha 286 e/ha

straw yield 50% – 55% –

clean shives yield 3.6 t/ha 4.4 t/ha

clean shives price 0.15 e/kg 0.25 e/kg

clean shives revenue 540 e/ha 1100 e/ha

continued on next page. . .

Table 4.1 - continued

subtotal products revenue 3713 e/ha 5377 e/ha

EC field subsidy 350 e/ha 350 e/ha

EC processing subsidy 235 e/ha 275 e/ha

risk harvest reduction bond 0% – 12% –

reduction bond × subtotal product revenue 0 e/ha 446 e/ha subtotal subsidies and premium revenue 585 e/ha 1071 e/ha total product and subsidies revenue 4298 e/ha 6448 e/ha

profit balance 504 e/ha 453 e/ha

The government subsidies considered are quite important for the economy of the flax industry. For a considerable number of small enterprises, the EU government aid exceeds their gross margins. For the large flax processors in France and Belgium, the aid repre-sented about 35% of their gross margins from 2002 to 2005. Many of those EU aids, are going to end. The additional processing aid for processors of flax grown in traditional areas (Belgium and the Netherlands) will cease from the 2009/2010 marketing year. The processing aid for short flax and hemp will also end from the 2009/2010 marketing year.

On the other hand, the EU authorized a subsidy of 200e/t from the 2009/2010 market-ing year onward for long flax fiber. The EU government has considered a full decouplmarket-ing of the aid in a “Single Payment Scheme” to help the small processors to shift to more profitable crops and adapt their production to the market [16]. In general, the economic balance of the flax growing and processing industry is quite delicate and is susceptible to the market volatility and government subsidies. At the current prices of flax, even the dew retting fiber is not economically attractive; therefore a new process for fiber production is at the moment not in sight.

4.8 Environmental impact of the flax plant