TWO NEW PELLET PLANTS FIRE UP Prince George, BC – New pellets plant in both eastern and west- ern Canada recently launched into production. In early June, Shaw Resources of Nova Scotia unveiled its $9-million wood pellet plant in Belledune, NB, the dynamic company’s second pellet plant. Surrounded by eight sawmills within 150 km, the 75,000 ton/year plant is also minutes from Belledune’s seaport along the scenic Baie de Chaleurs. The pellets will go to European clients, with the fi rst ship sailing on June 20. General manager Gordon Dickie adds that the plant has been designed to allow Shaw to double the capacity if the fibre supply or markets allow. Move 5,000 km northwest to Prince George, and Pinnacle Pellet launched its new wood pellet plant in July. The plant is perched next to Dunkley Lumber’s state-of-the-art sawmill just south of Prince George, and will use a mix of sawdust (80%) and beetle-kill timber (20%). The company has several licences to beetle kill timber, and will use that to trade with sawmills for sawdust, as well as for its own roundwood supply. 1100 TUB GRINDER PWC SEES GOLD IN SLASH Vancouver, BC – According to a recent PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) report on forest products sector mergers, acquisitions, and deals, wood biomass is emerging as an important re- newable energy source, creating competition on already strained fi bre sourcing. Yet the global consulting fi rm sees substantial opportunities for forest products companies, spanning from supplying or aggregating forest biomass, to producing wood- based energy (heat and power) or producing wood-based transport fuels and value added chemicals and other materials. Forestry players may need to partner with oil and gas com- panies to leverage the expertise of both parties. Still, deals in the bio-energy area have started to pick up, with most transac- tions to date involve co-ventures and start ups. In 2007, global bio-energy deals increased around sevenfold to nearly $7 billion, with deals concentrated in North America, followed by Asia-Pacifi c and Latin America. There will be more deals in the future, and the forest products industry will feature in these PwC says. “The development of wood biomass as a renewable energy source is more complicated than many other renewable sources, not only because many of the various technologies are still in the research stage, but also be- cause of the inherent competi- tion with established product value chains,” says Bruce McIn- tyre, global sustainability leader for PwC’s Forest, Paper & Pack- aging practice. “The potential for wood-based energy and other new biomass-sourced products to signifi cantly transform tradi- tional fi bre supply/value chains, and hence the current forest products industry, looks to be substantial. Companies cannot afford to be complacent about their chances of competing in this emerging scenario, since the most promising positions will likely rest with those controlling signifi cant volumes of forest bio- mass.” Given some imagination and energy, that should put the forest sector in the catbird’s seat. 3800 WOOD HOG • Morbark Dealer • 1165, rue Valet, L’Ancienne-Lorette, QC G2E 5T5 Tel.: (418) 871-6613 1-800-463-4862 Fax: (418) 871-8567 www.cardinalsaw.com 551 Ferdinand Blvd, Unit 1, Dieppe, NB E1A 7G1 Tel.: (506) 852-4310 1-800-931-9611 Fax: (506) 855-5311 161, Ferris Drive, Unit 7, North Bay, ON P1A 4K2 Tel.: (705) 840-2056 1-800-598-3044 Fax: (705) 840-2073 CanadianBIOMASS 13
Canadian Biomass August 08: Page 13
