BIOMASS update RENTECH PURCHASES ALLEGHENY PELLET Rentech announced that its subsidiary, New England Wood Pellet (NEWP), has acquired the assets of Allegheny Pellet Corporation (Allegheny) for approximately $7 million. The acquisition expands NEWP’s market position as the largest producer of wood pellets for the U.S. heating market. “Consistent with the growth strategy we outlined when we acquired NEWP, we are pleased to expand NEWP’s platform with the acquisition of Allegheny,” said Sean Ebnet, senior vice-president of Rentech’s wood fibre business. Allegheny’s wood pellet plant in Youngsville, Pa. has been operating since 1993. The facility processes residuals from local sawmills into wood pellets for sale through big box stores, specialty retailers and bulk sales channels. The plant has historically experienced relatively stable feedstock costs due to a consistent supply of residuals within an economic haul radius of the facility. Allegheny’s customers are responsible for the costs and logistics arrangements of pellet deliveries. Allegheny will be fully integrated into NEWP and will operate as its fourth pellet plant. NEWP intends to expand the plant’s annual production from approximately 36,000 tons under a four-day workweek to approximately 50,000 tons under a seven-day workweek. The additional production will help meet strong demand for pellets in Pennsylvania and New York. Allegheny is expected to generate approximately $10 million in revenues and $1.5 million in EBITDA annually once operating full-time. Rentech is currently in the final stages of completing its pellet plants in Atikokan, Ont. and Wawa, Ont., both of which are expected to come online in 2015. The plants will have acombined capacity of approximately 500,000 tonnes per year. CANADA CERTIFICATION LEADER...STILL The latest forestry certification stats show Canada continues to be far and away the leader in forest sustainability. Totals from the end of 2014 collected by certificationcanada.org indicate growth in certified land mass in Canada of 8 million ha, an increase of five per cent over the 2013 total of 151 ha. As of 2014, only 10 per cent of the world’s forests were certified, yet Canada had over 40 per cent of the world’s certified forests. In total, Canada has 161 million ha certified to at least one of the three internationally-recognized forest certification programs. In fact, Canada has over 50 per cent of all PEFC endorsed certifications worldwide (CSA and SFI), and almost a third of the FSC certifications. British Columbia, the supplier of the majority of wood pellets in Canada, remains a leader within Canada as well. Its 52 million ha of forest land certified to one of three interna-tionally recognized certification standards is, on its own, more than any other country in the world. B.C. alone has 27 per cent more certified area than the entire U.S. and 37 per cent more than Russia. WEBINAR SERIES TARGETS COMBUSTIBLE DUST A new three-part webinar series will tackle the issue of combustible dust, providing important information on how to mitigate dust in all biomass environments. Canadian Biomass, along with sister publication Canadian Forest Industries , has partnered with industry veteran John Bachynski to present the series. Bachynski has 30 years of expertise dealing with dust explosion issues, and is currently a member of the team at EPM Consulting. The hour-long seminars will be presented from May to July 2015: • Wednesday, May 27 -Dust Explosion Mitigation I -Managing the risk • Tuesday, June 23 -Dust Explosion Mitigation II -Managing the dust • Wednesday, July 22 -Dust Explosion Mitigation III -Managing the liability The cost of each webinar is $25. The webinar can be viewed and listened to from any location where web access is available. For more information, visit canadianbiomassmagazine.ca. Rebiere new president of WPAC Brad Bennett has resigned as president and director of the Wood Pellet Association of Canada (WPAC). WPAC’s board of directors unanimously approved the appoint-ments of Michele Rebiere as president and director, Rene Landry as vice-president and director, and Wayne Young as director. Bennett stepped down for personal reasons WPAC noted in a press release. “The board of directors thanks Mr. Bennett for his service to WPAC and wishes him success in his future endeavors.” Rebiere is curently the chief financial officer of Viridis Energy Inc. MARCH/APRIL 2015 6 Canadian BIOMASS
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