Green Circle, Lauritzen Bulkers sign updated contract

Lauritzen Bulkers recently announced it signed an eight-year contract with Green Circle Bio Energy for the transportation of 600,000 tons of wood pellets from the U.S. to Europe. According to Lauritzen Bulkers, the contract is the longest ever it has signed.

Green Circle owns and operates a 650,000-ton-per-year wood pellet plant in Cottondale, Florida. In September, Enviva Development Holdings LLC announced an agreement to acquire the company. Morton Neraas, president and CEO of Green Circle said Enviva’s acquisition plans will not impact the Lauritzen Bulkers contract.

Information released by Lauritzen Bulkers indicates a similar six-year contract was signed with Green Circle in 2012. Neraas explained that the new contract provides some additional flexibility with regard to destinations and volumes when compared to previous contracts. “The new ocean contract is put in place to replace an existing ocean contract that rolls off next year, and to match ocean transportation requirements related to new off-take contracts Green Circle has recently entered into,” he said.

In addition to the Cottondale facility, Green Circle has also announced plans to develop a 500,000-ton-per-year pellet plan in Georgia County, Mississippi.

Neraas said the project is currently awaiting the outcome of further clarification of U.K. and European Union regulations. It is also on hold pending the conclusion of the Enviva acquisition and is dependent on Enviva’s development plans and timing. “Following the closing of the acquisition, we will get a chance to discuss this project in more details with Enviva. It is presently too early to have any comments as to how well this project will fit into Enviva’s development portfolio,” he added.