The flax produced in Haute-Normandie (Upper Normandy) has acquired great notoriety throughout the world. The region accounts for 50% of world production, and the Terre de Lin cooperative established in the Seine-Maritime department alone produces 15%. Since 1939, its expertise and innovative capacities have resulted in silky fibers of premium quality. The cooperative's longest fibers are exported to spinning mills around the world to become textile, while the shorter ones serve as tow in ever more innovative composite materials.