Transforming Forest Biomass

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Transforming Forest Biomass

• By Bob Fleet R.P.F.

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Company History
1882 Grant family enters lumber business in Moose
Creek, Ontario
1981 Englehart mill starts production, which is
the sixth OSB plant ever built
1998 Acquires Timmins mill from Tembec to
solidify Eastern presence
2005 Construction of South Carolina mills begins
2010 Pellet mill begins
2009
2010
1882
2006
1981
1998
2009 Expected Clarendon startup
2000 Grant builds the Footner mill in northern
Alberta and establishes presence in the West
1989 Second line is added to Englehart mill
2006 Allendale mill, Grants first U.S. based
production facility, begins production.
1930 Grant family builds sawmill in Latchford,
Ontario
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Grant Forest Products Snapshot

• Grant is a pioneer in the North American Oriented
  Strand Board industry
• Founded in 1981 with the startup of the Englehart
  mill
• Grant operates some of the largest mills in the
  world and has access to all major OSB markets
  across North America
• Leading Canadian manufacturer of OSB with its
  Englehart, Timmins and Footner mills
• Expansion into the US with Clarendon and
  Allendale mills in South Carolina
• Most recent expansion Wood Pellets in Ontario

Manufacturing Locations
Louisiana-
Other 14.4
Pacific
Other
21.9
Huber
16.3
7.9
Ainsworth
8.1
Norbord
15.3
Weyerhaeuser
8.5
Grant
Georgia-Pacific
13.1
8.9
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Grant Pellets
Grant Pellets

• Built Pellet Mill 2009
• Successfully transformed multiple sources of
  biomass into pellets
• 4 weeks away from full production of
  pellets in Englehart

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Grant Pellets
Grant Pellets

Baghouse
Fines Storage Silo
Cyclone
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Grant Pellets
Grant Pellets

Cooler
Fines Storage
Pelletizers
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The Forest Industry Today

• The Forest Industry has undergone a fundamental
  transformation
• Demand for newsprint and wood products
  plummeted almost 30 from last year
• Lost 8,000 jobs in the last 5 years
• 24 million sustainable m3 of wood available 12
  million harvested last year
• 227 mills closed from 2003-2008
• Last Pulp Mill built in Ontario 1947
• Out of balance. need balance

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Recent News Headlines
AbitibiBowater to suspends at several plants,
affects 1,500 jobs in Canada The Canadian Press
Smooth Rock residents hope to save mill site
Timmins Daily Press
Dixie Pellets files for bankruptcy Selma
Times-Journal
Sault misses out on wood pellet plant The Sault
Star
Bisson angry as Smooth Rock Falls debacle
Timmins Times
MP Angus worried about future of Grant Forest
Products The North Bay Nugget
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How to Achieve Balance

• Need a healthy forest industry in order to
  sustain a healthy biomass industry to help with
  the..
• cost of fiber
• cost of roads construction, maintenance
• cost of forest management planning
• ..because traditionally, products
• made from guts and feathers
• typically yield lower margins

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Wheres Ontario..?

• Pellets at local retailers have been transported
  in from USA or BC
• MNRs expression of interest been delayed -
  access to fiber is challenging
• OPGs transition into pellets moving very slowly
  - conducting trials
• Access to government funds are limited for some
  due to circumstances.
• Industry is at a pivotal moment
• Ontario needs to regenerate a healthy
  forest economy ... other jurisdictions
  have.

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Fundamental Question
Many wood products corporations are asking
themselves. Do we transform our core business
out of primary forest products and into making
bio-products, or do we integrate bio-products
into our business while maintaining primary our
forest products? Answer is unique for each
facility dependant

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Fundamental Question

• Whats the right scale for biomass facilities
• even Walmart recognizes they cant have a
  store in every town
• Whats the right structure?
• Should they be independent or integrated with the
  primary industry?
• To achieve a balanced forest industry,
• what comes first the chicken or
• the egg?