Natural Fuel unit under administration
Conrad Raj, Today Online 24 Sep 08;
LISTED Australian company Natural Fuel, which is building the world’s largest biodiesel plant on Jurong Island,said its 50-50 joint venture with Babcock & Brown Environmental Investments is in administration.
The company said the directors of the joint venture, Natural Fuels Australia Limited (NFAL), decided to appoint the administrators, Peter Walker and Steven Sherman fromaccounting firm Ferrier Hodgson, last Friday, following the withdrawal of funding support by Babcock, with the effect that the Sept 30 repayment date for NFAL’s secured loan to Babcock would not be extended.
NFAL and its subsidiary, Natural Fuel Darwin (NFD) own and operate Australia’s largest biodiesel plant in Darwin, which can produce 122,500 tonnes of biodiesel fuel and 12,250 tonnes of glycerine a year. Natural Fuel stressed that its own financial position remains “sound” and that the appointment of administrators to NFAL and NFD “will not adversely affect it”.
Natural Fuel pointed out it is likely to make further provisions for the impairment of its secured loan to NFAL. The total amount of the loan was not stated, but it disclosed that it had to provide A$30.3 million($36 million) in its 2007 financial statements and that as at 30 June, the loan was valued at A$13.8 million.
Natural Fuel said it will stop providing further funding for NFAL, to focus on its wholly-owned A$130 million biodiesel production facility in Singapore.
