Enligna plant sold!

[fedtime]

Perhaps some good news for us folks in the East? We sure can use the competition in the wood pellet market.

http://thechronicleherald.ca/business/49075-ns-mill-sold-vancouver-energy-firm

 

[smoke show]

Theres gonna be okies everywhere.

 

[jtakeman]

I'll see if I can get some comments from Mr. Warm. Wonder if they will keep the name or convert to Okies? I know they kept the Confluence product names intact.

What was the brand name of the pellets the mill produced?

 

[save$]

That's news. How does a company that charges and gets top dollar go into bankruptcy? I hope that the new owners continue to produce a quality product. Off course it would be good if they were a bit more affordable but I do understand the process of top heat commands the to $.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

That's news. How does a company that charges and gets top dollar go into bankruptcy? I hope that the new owners continue to produce a quality product. Off course it would be good if they were a bit more affordable but I do understand the process of top heat commands the to $.

The company that is in receivership assets are being bought by the company who gets top $ for their pellets here on the east coast.

Looks like you may have it sorta backwards save$.

 

[fedtime]

From what I gather, Enligna produced wood pellets mainly for export to Europe in bulk. I understand the parent company continues to operate in Europe.

Beginning in 2009, the company began to sell bagged wood pellets in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and perhaps PEI, bagged as Englina. They were decent pellets, in my opinion, marketed as a hardwood pellet; low fines, reasonable ash and decent heat. I still have a few bags I'm burning now. One dealer told me that the reason the company had not sold in the North American market before 2009 was that the pellets did not meet certain standards, but that was corrected in 2009. I know Enligna had also begun exporting bagged pellets under different brand names - some lucky folks managed to get hold of a few tons when the plant closed and it looked like they were selling in Ireland, and other places.

The factory in Nova Scotia was expanded in 2009, and there was government money provided to do so. The closure was a big surprise to many here in Nova Scotia.

 

[save$]

That's news. How does a company that charges and gets top dollar go into bankruptcy? I hope that the new owners continue to produce a quality product. Off course it would be good if they were a bit more affordable but I do understand the process of top heat commands the to $.

The company that is in receivership assets are being bought by the company who gets top $ for their pellets here on the east coast.

Looks like you may have it sorta backwards save$.

You are right (as usual)! So my question become mute. I know I am in a bit of a fog,. Now, my perception that Mr. Warm and Mr. BTU have something in common?
And to find out it that mill will produce pellets for domestic distrubution and what their pellets will be.
Too bad some mill in Maine can't get a hold of a soft wood pellet that they can market in competition for Okies. I know MWP tried, but has suspended that effort.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

That's news. How does a company that charges and gets top dollar go into bankruptcy? I hope that the new owners continue to produce a quality product. Off course it would be good if they were a bit more affordable but I do understand the process of top heat commands the to $.

The company that is in receivership assets are being bought by the company who gets top $ for their pellets here on the east coast.

Looks like you may have it sorta backwards save$.

You are right (as usual)! So my question become mute. I know I am in a bit of a fog,. Now, my perception that Mr. Warm and Mr. BTU have something in common?
And to find out it that mill will produce pellets for domestic distrubution and what their pellets will be.
Too bad some mill in Maine can't get a hold of a soft wood pellet that they can market in competition for Okies. I know MWP tried, but has suspended that effort.

Mr. Warm was BTU on here and the Okie rep, they are the folks who had the winning bid in on the Enligna plant. Maybe they want to ship stuff over to Europe.

Scott and the crew at MWP could do the softwood thing but changing the plant between types isn't easy nor is it cheap to have the plant out of operation while doing the change. That along with the amount of Softwood sawdust available likely is preventing things from continuing in that vein.

 

[jtakeman]

A comment from you know who!

The company's name will probably change, but it looks like pretty much all the product will be sold to Europe. We still have to have the courts approve this sale, but we don't think that should be a problem. Some money will have to be spent to fix up and update some things, but once this is a done deal, we will have the changes made and production should start in the 1st or early in the 2nd quarter. We have plans to build a mill later this year, announced earlier in Monte Lake BC and are actively looking to purchase other mills if it makes sense for both parties

save$, Mr. Warm is Mr. BTU.

 

[fedtime]

More media on the sale of the Enligna plant:

http://thechronicleherald.ca/business/49456-rapid-reopening-pellet-plant-planned

 

[Bigjim13]

So, what does that mean for us here in New England? I haven't EVER seen a bag of Okies sold anywhere I have been in Vermont, will i now be able to get them? WE have lots of pellets for sale in my area from Maine and Canada.

 

[fedtime]

I can only hope it means more competition here in Nova Scotia. We have one main plant: Eastern Embers and they pretty much control the price of pellets. Dealers sell a 40 lb bag for between $5.50 and 6.00 and it has been at that level for several years now. Deals are uncommon, and imports have to contend with the high cost of transportation. Eastern Embers has such a hold here in NS, that it was no great suprise to me to find their pellets selling for LESS in New Brunswick, even with the cost of transportation. Again, Eastern Embers has to contend with the increased competition on New Brunswich - Canawick for example - so they have to compete price-wise. There is little such pressure here in Nova Scotia. Dealers generally sell one brand of pellets: Eastern Embers or they have to import. I have never seen a dealer selling more than one brand at a time.

When Enligna started selling locally, it was great news. Their pellets sold for .50 less per bag than Eastern Embers and were pretty much on par quality-wise - as I said: much needed competition.

 

[titanracer]

This sounds just like oil, we are all suffering paying the high fuel prices because the US is selling our oil, overseas. We are stuck paying these high prices on oil Now they are doing it to pellets, selling them overseas, soon they will be sold in the stock market & we will be paying high prices for pellets. I'm not talking like $300.00 a ton, more like $500.00 to $600.00 a ton. I see it coming.

 

[Lousyweather]

So, what does that mean for us here in New England? I haven't EVER seen a bag of Okies sold anywhere I have been in Vermont, will i now be able to get them? WE have lots of pellets for sale in my area from Maine and Canada.

Means you likely wont see any change. Its a logistical issue. Moving pellets costs money. If more folks in your area would pay more for the product, maybe a retailer would bring it in. It would be foolhardy for a retailer to bring in product only to get beaten over the head with the price. Given the economy these days, the majority of folks only want to buy the cheapest pellet available. You wont get that with Okanagan. You dont have to look far to see evidence on this....folks frequently post their "scores" here, and heck, dont even post a brand name, unless prompted....here's one.....

https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/87882/

:ahhh:

 

[ScotL]

That's news. How does a company that charges and gets top dollar go into bankruptcy? I hope that the new owners continue to produce a quality product. Off course it would be good if they were a bit more affordable but I do understand the process of top heat commands the to $.

The company that is in receivership assets are being bought by the company who gets top $ for their pellets here on the east coast.

Looks like you may have it sorta backwards save$.

You are right (as usual)! So my question become mute. I know I am in a bit of a fog,. Now, my perception that Mr. Warm and Mr. BTU have something in common?
And to find out it that mill will produce pellets for domestic distrubution and what their pellets will be.
Too bad some mill in Maine can't get a hold of a soft wood pellet that they can market in competition for Okies. I know MWP tried, but has suspended that effort.

Mr. Warm was BTU on here and the Okie rep, they are the folks who had the winning bid in on the Enligna plant. Maybe they want to ship stuff over to Europe.

Scott and the crew at MWP could do the softwood thing but changing the plant between types isn't easy nor is it cheap to have the plant out of operation while doing the change. That along with the amount of Softwood sawdust available likely is preventing things from continuing in that vein.

You're right Smokey. We need to get at least 6,000 tons ahead before we could shut down and switch over to all softwood. We also would need about 3,000 tons per week of raw softwood supply stored ahead and we don't have millions of acres of beetle-kill spruce and fir like they have out west. Our softwood pellet is almost 100% pine (the animal bedding is 100% pine) which makes a darker looking pellet than dead spruce and it isn't easy to dry. But, I think the pine pellet smells better.
With the current demand, it will probably not be until this summer before we can afford to switch to softwood.

I am adding some more equipment - including another pellet mill - but we've already had to turn away some stores this year because demand has been so high and next year looks even busier. The box stores especially have wanted a lot more than what we could commit to. And, I can't just increase production at the expense of quality. I'd rather have trucks waiting for good pellets and have them all back next year than push out a larger quantity of sub-par product this year and loose sales next year.

 

[wil lanfear]

So, what does that mean for us here in New England? I haven't EVER seen a bag of Okies sold anywhere I have been in Vermont, will i now be able to get them? WE have lots of pellets for sale in my area from Maine and Canada.

http://www.bourdeaubrothersofmiddlebury.com./okanaganwoodpellets.html

 

[titanracer]

For future reference, is that what the bags look like for the pellets you call Oakies. I have never tried them & would like to if I ever see them. If that isn't the bag, please somebody post a picture of the Oakies bag, so if I come across them, I know what they are.

 

[jtakeman]

Here is what the latest Okies look like.

 

[Bigjim13]

So, what does that mean for us here in New England? I haven't EVER seen a bag of Okies sold anywhere I have been in Vermont, will i now be able to get them? WE have lots of pellets for sale in my area from Maine and Canada.

http://www.bourdeaubrothersofmiddlebury.com./okanaganwoodpellets.html

$256 per ton? Thats not the price I was expecting. Interesting that they sell in pallets of 65 bags. Why is that? I may have to make a trip to Middlebury, are the Okies really worth a 40 min drive?

 

[jtakeman]

That's news. How does a company that charges and gets top dollar go into bankruptcy? I hope that the new owners continue to produce a quality product. Off course it would be good if they were a bit more affordable but I do understand the process of top heat commands the to $.

The company that is in receivership assets are being bought by the company who gets top $ for their pellets here on the east coast.

Looks like you may have it sorta backwards save$.

You are right (as usual)! So my question become mute. I know I am in a bit of a fog,. Now, my perception that Mr. Warm and Mr. BTU have something in common?
And to find out it that mill will produce pellets for domestic distrubution and what their pellets will be.
Too bad some mill in Maine can't get a hold of a soft wood pellet that they can market in competition for Okies. I know MWP tried, but has suspended that effort.

Mr. Warm was BTU on here and the Okie rep, they are the folks who had the winning bid in on the Enligna plant. Maybe they want to ship stuff over to Europe.

Scott and the crew at MWP could do the softwood thing but changing the plant between types isn't easy nor is it cheap to have the plant out of operation while doing the change. That along with the amount of Softwood sawdust available likely is preventing things from continuing in that vein.

You're right Smokey. We need to get at least 6,000 tons ahead before we could shut down and switch over to all softwood. We also would need about 3,000 tons per week of raw softwood supply stored ahead and we don't have millions of acres of beetle-kill spruce and fir like they have out west. Our softwood pellet is almost 100% pine (the animal bedding is 100% pine) which makes a darker looking pellet than dead spruce and it isn't easy to dry. But, I think the pine pellet smells better.
With the current demand, it will probably not be until this summer before we can afford to switch to softwood.

I am adding some more equipment - including another pellet mill - but we've already had to turn away some stores this year because demand has been so high and next year looks even busier. The box stores especially have wanted a lot more than what we could commit to. And, I can't just increase production at the expense of quality. I'd rather have trucks waiting for good pellets and have them all back next year than push out a larger quantity of sub-par product this year and loose sales next year.

Sounds like your doing very well Scot! I see most of the places that had the softwood MWP are all sold out. Thats a good sign. ;-)

I Sure hope to get a couple of bags so I can post a review. :cheese: