Land-clearing continues as Enviva officials observe ‘quiet period’

Wood pellet company looking at IPO

By Kevin Spradlin
PeeDeePost.com

Related coverage
* Dec. 1, 2014: Enviva rep says project still a go
* Sept. 9, 2014: Plant could bring up to 80 jobs

HAMLET — Work is on-going at a site along State Route 177 north of Hamlet near the CSX rail yard on what is to be a 500,000 metric ton per year wood pellet processing plant owned and operated by Enviva. Heavy equipment continued to clear tall pines late Monday morning.

Kevin Spradlin | PeeDeePost.com On the outside looking in, land-clearing operations at the Hamlet site of the planned Enviva wood pellet plant continue late Monday morning.

Kevin Spradlin | PeeDeePost.com
On the outside looking in, land-clearing operations at the Hamlet site of the planned Enviva wood pellet plant continue late Monday morning.

Company officials, however, aren’t commenting on operations or project timelines. In October, Enviva filed a Form S-1 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Until the SEC signs off on the form, federal law prevents company officials from discussing or promoting the IPO. Company spokeswoman Jeanne Segal said no Enviva representative would be sharing details about any ongoing projects until the quiet period is over.

In the $100 million IPO request, the Form S-1 “cites a Hawkins Wright forecast that predicts global demand for utility-grade pellets will increase from 9.9 million tons per year in 2013 to 38 million tons per year in 2020, primarily as a result of increased demand in Northern Europe, South Korea and Japan, according to BioMassMagazine.com.

“Given the limited current supply available, a substantial amount of new production capacity and related infrastructure will be required to meet this demand,” said Enviva in the filing.

“As the largest supplier by production capacity in the industry, and because of our relationships with major Northern European and Asian customers, we believe that we are well positioned to capture a significant portion of this expected future demand growth.”

Meanwhile, residents are putting together a last-minute effort to prevent construction of two wood pellet domes in a historic neighborhood at the Port of Wilmington. Neighbors of the project want it moved or, short of that, sound barriers erected, according to a Wilmington Star-News article.

In December, Enviva project manager Glenn Gray briefed the Richmond County commissioners on delays in permitting with the Sampson County plant. Those delays, he said, directly impacted the timeline of construction on the Hamlet facility. At his request, the commissioners approved a deadline extension for incentives.

The company announced in September plans to build two plants that would create a combined 160 permanent jobs between the two facilities by the end of 2017 with an investment of more than $214.2 million. Enviva is one of the world’s largest producers of wood pellets made from a mix of low-grade wood resources, all of which are byproducts of the traditional sawtimber industry.  Enviva wood pellets are high in density and have similar operational benefits to the coal they replace.

The plan now is to begin construction in Hamlet by the end of 2014 and have the plant operational around August 2015, Gray said.

Gray has said the company doesn’t build plants until capacity is sold. He said the Sampson County plant is already sold out for at least the first eight years of operation.

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