Bundaberg Sugar abandons ethanol plant plans
Bundaberg Sugar has shelved plans to build an ethanol plant at its Arriga mill site on the Atherton Tableland in far north Queensland.
The company spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on feasibility studies and received a $12 million Commonwealth grant for establishment costs.
But northern regional manager Ron Porter says they could not secure a buyer for the ethanol they were planning to produce.
“The discussions we were having with potential marketing, people dragged on and on, and there was no certainty there,” he said.
“We obviously did not have anything like a binding or bankable agreement with a company.
“Commercially there is no way we could proceed without that.”
Mr Porter says the $12 million grant will have to be returned to the Federal Government.
