Commercial Mass
The absolute mass of natural textile fibres after all moisture has been removed through thermal drying provides the standard baseline for commercial transactions. Because flax is highly hygroscopic, net dry fibre weight represents the only reliable measurement for determining the true value of a bulk shipment.
Oven Testing
Laboratory technicians calculate this value by heating random core samples of the raw flax in a conditioning oven at over one hundred degrees Celsius until a constant mass is achieved. This drying process removes all free water from the fibres without damaging the cellulose structure. The net dry fibre weight is then recorded and used as the starting point for calculating the commercial weight.
This weight is determined by adding the official moisture regain percentage back to the dry weight.
Invoice Adjustment
Financial settlements for flax shipments are calculated directly from this dry baseline to prevent buyers from paying for atmospheric water absorbed during transit. When a container arrives with high water content, the invoice is adjusted downwards using the dry measurement as the primary reference point. This standard practice protects mills from the volatile weight shifts caused by varying sea lane humidity and storage conditions in different climates.
Suppliers who deliver dried fibres that meet the contract specifications are paid based on these standardized calculations. The transaction document always records both the wet reception weight and the final calculated dry figure.
