The end of Oakies?

[rparker]

Article about Vt Wood Pellets starting back up and had an interesting side note: "with the shut down of Oakanogan wood pellets...".
Looked it up and appears there is going to be a shake up in the pellet manufacturing world.

http://www.viridisenergy.ca/_resources/OPC_Shut_down_Press_Release_-_FINAL.PDF

Not sure what this means but it doesn't sound good.

 

[Lake Girl]

BC had two saw mill operations suffer major explosions (with loss of life) in their plants so their Ministry of Labour is likely going extreme on their dust mitigation requirements to avoid repeats. Beetle kill wood apparently was producing a drier, finer dust that lead to the explosions. Structural challenges on a building are never good...

Eagle Valley seems to be moving to capture that market share as they showed up at the local Canadian Tire store in place of Okanagans. Guess I better get some to try...

Thanks for the heads up!

 

[alternativeheat]

Around here they were too expensive anyway, maybe the next company will do better. But ya know when people need heat and there is a crunch around on oil and your product is nearly $10 a bag US, something is wrong. That was in the heat of the crunch a couple of years ago.

 

[mralias]

But..but...you mean no more Douglas Furs??? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

 

[Harman Lover 007]

Viridis is only ceasing operations at that one plant due to a number of issues including the structural building issues referenced above. Okanagans are still in production at other plants and will still be available in the pellet marketplace.

 

[Lake Girl]

Leaves their plant on the east coast and buying from third party pellet manufacturers...

 

[Harman Lover 007]

Leaves their plant on the east coast and buying from third party pellet manufacturers...

Just trying to make it clear that they are still in business. They have a huge supply at the Upton MA bagging facility. The Okie Golds are produced in Georgia (southern yellow pine). The DFs are, and always have been produced by the Bear Mountain folks (third party). There is another plant Viridis operates right near the now closed BC plant. The closed plant wasn't producing much product anyways due to it's issues. Tough times for pellet manufacturers right now....

 

[fmsm]

Just trying to make it clear that they are still in business. They have a huge supply at the Upton MA bagging facility. The Okie Golds are produced in Georgia (southern yellow pine). The DFs are, and always have been produced by the Bear Mountain folks (third party). There is another plant Viridis operates right near the now closed BC plant. The closed plant wasn't producing much product anyways due to it's issues. Tough times for pellet manufacturers right now....

Thank you for this insight. Truly appreciated!

 

[alternativeheat]

Never seen the Oakie Golds out this way, I've seen them mentioned in the forum is all. Maybe they will spread some around. We burned a bunch of DF's for a while, maybe it was just our dealer but they got totally out of hand on price. I can buy other soft woods for $3 a bag less basically at most any given time. So when the whole market shifts up or down on price this differential in price seems to still exist. I'm sorry. Df's are good but they aren't $3 a bag better than other soft woods.

 

[SininStyle]

Never seen the Oakie Golds out this way, I've seen them mentioned in the forum is all. Maybe they will spread some around. We burned a bunch of DF's for a while, maybe it was just our dealer but they got totally out of hand on price. I can buy other soft woods for $3 a bag less basically at most any given time. So when the whole market shifts up or down on price this differential in price seems to still exist. I'm sorry. Df's are good but they aren't $3 a bag better than other soft woods.

4 ton of okie golds stacked away for next year and the year after in central NH. First ive seen them around here. I only burn such goodness in Jan/Feb to get the most out of them.

 

[rich2500]

Viridis is now up for sale

 

[Lake Girl]

http://biomassmagazine.com/articles/13173/pellet-producer-viridis-energy-for-sale

RBC bank made payment demand following the mill closure in BC. Curious as to what structural problems affect the plant. The article mentions the significant dust mitigation upgrades but is silent on the nature of the structural issues.

Edit: A background article on safety in the industry in BC
http://www.vancouversun.com/WorkSaf...st+concerns+pellet+plants/10089375/story.html