BAYONNE — BIOX Corporation (BIOX), a renewable energy company that designs, builds, owns and operates biodiesel production facilities, today announced that it has signed definitive agreements with International-Matex Tank Terminals (IMTT) to secure the site and related infrastructure for the construction of its second biodiesel production facility. BIOX’s second facility will have a 100 million litre capacity per year, 50 percent larger than its existing facility in Hamilton, Ontario.
Steve Gallo, business administrator for the City of Bayonne, said the project is still in the development stage.
In a release issued on June 4, BIOX said the new facility will be located within the IMTT terminal in Bayonne, New Jersey, at New York Harbor. The agreements include a long term land lease agreement for the plant as well as long term leases on existing storage tanks at IMTT.
“With this second facility our production capacity will grow by almost 150 percent from existing levels. This expansion reflects our view that the fundamentals within the North American biodiesel sector have evolved due to the mandated minimum volumes such that long-term demand exists for quality product from reliable suppliers, like BIOX,” said Kevin Norton, CEO of BIOX Corporation.
“IMTT is an ideal partner for our next facility. We have been working with them for more than five years using their Bayonne terminal as a distribution and blending site for product produced in Hamilton. Based on that long-standing relationship, we have already conducted the early stage planning for this next facility including the design tie-ins and site specifications prior to signing these agreements. We are now proceeding ahead with the detailed planning and permitting phase with the expectation that construction will be completed in December 2013.”
The IMTT terminal at New York Harbor is a 600 acre facility within which BIOX has secured 3.5 acres for its second plant. New York Harbor is a major petroleum distribution hub. The selection of this site is consistent with BIOX’s strategy to locate facilities adjacent to large scale petroleum storage and diesel distribution infrastructure as well as users of petroleum diesel and blenders of biodiesel in order to minimize transportation costs to them.
BIOX estimates the cost of the 100 million litre facility will be $60 million which includes the core process area, infrastructure, utilities, engineering and indirect cost. BIOX believes that its current financial resources combined with its future cash flow from operations and debt financing should be sufficient to enable it to construct and commission the second BIOX facility.
As part of its expansion plans, BIOX continues to actively pursue additional potential locations for future facilities, which involves consideration of a number of criteria including availability of infrastructure and service providers, potential strategic partnerships, logistics and other market factors.