- Kangaroo Island Plantation Timbers (KPT) is ending 2020 with a win, securing a $5 million grant from the Forestry Recovery Development Fund
- Funding will go towards a biomass pellet mill plant on Kangaroo Island capable of processing fire-damaged timber that can’t be sold on export markets
- The announcement comes as something of a full-circle moment for the company after it lost staggering 95 per cent of its crops to Australian wildfires earlier this year, forcing the company into a two-month voluntary suspension
- Biomass pellets are a carbon-neutral form of fuel used for power generation in established markets across Japan, North America and Europe
- KPT’s Managing Director said the project would provide a market outlet for businesses in the event of possible future fire damage, but is confident the risk of such bushfires has been reduced
- Shares are up a healthy 7.76 per cent on the back of the announcement, trading at $1.25 each at market close
Kangaroo Island Plantation Timbers (KPT) is ending 2020 with a win, securing a $5 million grant from the Forestry Recovery Development Fund.
Funding will go towards a biomass pellet mill plant on Kangaroo Island capable of processing fire-damaged timber that can’t be sold on export markets.
Biomass pellets are a carbon-neutral form of fuel used for power generation in established markets across Japan, North America and Europe. The company says the process garners attention as a more sustainable form of power generation.
Winning the grant comes in stark contrast to KPT’s unfortunate start to 2020 when the company lost a staggering 95 per cent of its crops to Australian wildfires.
KPT’s Managing Director Keith Lamb said the project would provide a market outlet for businesses in the event of possible future fire damage, but is confident the risk of such bushfires has been reduced.
“Although I am confident that lessons learned from the 2019-20 wildfires will reduce the risk of conflagrations of the extent and intensity we saw last summer, the proposed pellet and power project will provide a market outlet for all plantation growers on Kangaroo Island who might experience fire damage in the future,” he explained.
KPT shares were forced into voluntary suspension from January 7 to March 31.
Although KPT has not made a complete recovery from earlier in the year, it has traded steadily around the one dollar mark since October 2019.
Shares are up a healthy 7.76 per cent on the back of the announcement, trading at $1.25 each at market close.