Conifex Looks To Buy More and Diversify Products
By 250 News
Thursday, June 03, 2010 02:41 PM
Prince George, B.C.- Now is the time to invest in the forest industry says Ken Shields, the CEO of Conifex. (at right, Ken Shields)Hoping for a gradual cyclical recovery, Shields says the value of companies is still low, “It is a good time to be shopping, and we have a bit more shopping to do”.
Speaking to delegates to the Resources Expo in Prince George, Shields says Confiex is also looking at diversifying its products, “Right now, when people talk to me, they ask ‘Ken, what are your costs?’ I hope that in 5 years they will be asking, ‘Ken, what is the bio mass revenue per thousand board feet of lumber produced?’ Or, ‘ Ken, how much energy are you producing per thousand board feet?’ “
Shields says with the solid fibre supply in the Mackenzie area, and the fact it is much more economical to produce energy from saw mill residue than raw logs, Conifex should be a very attractive partner to any bio-energy project.”
Conifex has purchased the Abitibi Bowater mill in Mackenzie, at least, he expects to officially announce soon the purchase as a done deal “ They have our money, I would like to have the mill in exchange for that.”
Shields says it’s too new to have any specific plans for the operation, but he is looking forward to working with the folks from Sinar Mas who purchased the former Pope and Talbot Mill “You know pulpers and sawmillers are always co-dependent and I’m sure there’s a much better business plan there that would be mutually advantageous. I am looking forward to rolling up my sleeves and working with our new stakeholders on that plan.”
He says Conifex is trying to slide away from the commodity like nature of the products that are produced.
When it comes to bio- energy, Shields says the new call for energy poses some interesting possibilities for Conifexl “In Ft. St. James, its an area with a good fibre supply, we’ll be able to do a proper assessment as to whether we’re going to produce pellets in Ft. St. James which will manufacture energy in Asia and Europe, or whether there’s an opportunity to produce a bit of electricity ourselves, or whether it makes sense to do a bit of both.”
He says the energy production possibilities in Mackenzie are different “We purchased the newsprint plant including the power boiler and steam turbine generator and the existing capacity there is 13.8 megawatts. Now with the ground rules coming out on the phase two energy call, we’re obviously going to be studying how we can operate that energy island facility at Mackenzie to produce electric power there. We think the introduction of an electric power generation stream in Mackenzie will breathe new life into that community.”
Shields reminded the delegates that energy production is not tied to the softwood lumber agreement, the sales are in Canadian dollars and the electricity revenues are completely independent from the housing cycle “ We would really like to see something happen there to really anchor our business plan in Mackenzie.”
When asked if Conifex will operate the two Abitibi sawmills , Shields says he envisions one new modern operation, but that one will be up and running while the other is rebuilt.
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Posted by: Eagleone on June 3 2010 5:31 PM