Rentech

This article is about the wood fiber processing and fertilizer company. For the hedge fund, see Renaissance Technologies.

Rentech

Company type	Public
Traded as	OTCQB: RTKH
Industry	Wood Fertilizers Bioenergy
Founded	1981
Founder	Charles Benham Mark Bohn
Headquarters	Los Angeles, California , United States
Key people	Keith B. Forman[1] (CEO, President, Director)
Products	wood chips wood pellets nitrogen fertilizer
Subsidiaries	Fulghum Fibres New England Wood Pellet Rentech Nitrogen Partners (~60%) Rentech Graanul (40%)
Website	www.rentechinc.com

Rentech, Inc. (stands for Renewable Energy Technology^[2]) was a Los Angeles, California–based company that owned and operated wood fiber processing and nitrogen fertilizer manufacturing businesses. It provided wood chipping and wood pellet services through a subsidiary Fulghum Fibres, Inc. and sold nitrogen fertilizer through Rentech Nitrogen Partners, L.P. In addition, Rentech owned the intellectual property for a number of energy technologies, such as Rentech–SilvaGas Gasification Process and Fischer–Tropsch process based Rentech Process.^[2]

Energy technologies

Rentech was initially formed in 1981 by Charles Benham and Mark Bohn to develop and commercialize synthetic fuel technologies.^[3][4] In 1991, it incensed its Rentech Process to the Fuel Resources Development Company (Fuelco) to produce diesel fuel from landfill gas at the Synhytech facility in Pueblo, Colorado.^[5] Rentech obtained ownership of the facility in 1993. This project failed and was closed at the same year due to lower than expected gas volumes.^[6]

In 2000, Rentech acquired a methanol plant at Commerce City, Colorado, which was converted to a gas-to-liquids plant.^[7][8] In mid 2000s, Rentech planned building coal-to-liquids plants in Wyoming, Illinois, Kentucky, and Mississippi.^[4]

In 2009, it unveiled plan for construction of a synthetic fuels plant in Rialto, California, and together with ASIG it agreed with 13 airlines to provide synthetic diesel for ground services at Los Angeles International Airport.^[9][10]

In 2010, it made a memorandum of understanding with 14 airlines to provide alternative jet fuel and diesel fuel from its planned biofuels production complex project in Natchez, Mississippi.^[10]

In 2011, Rentech agreed with the Government of Ontario to build a plant in White River, Ontario. to convert 1.3 million tons of provincial forests into jet fuel and naphtha.^[11][12] At the same year, it purchased the 55 MW biomass integrated gasification combined cycle power plant project in Port St. Joe, Florida.^[13] This project was halted 2012.^[14]

In 2013, Rentech changed its focus from biofuels to wood pellets production.^[15] It closed its product demonstration unit in Commerce City which was developing technology for conversion of cellulosic biomass into synthetic gas.^[16][17] It also cancelled its biofuels production complex project in Natchez.^[15][17]

In 2014, Rentech sold its energy technology and equipment located at the demonstration unit in Commerce City, Colorado to Chinese Sunshine Kaidi New Energy Group.^[18]

Wood processing

In May 2013, Rentech acquired Georgia-based Fulghum Fibres, Inc.^[15][19][20] As part of the acquisition of Fulghum Fibres, Rentech entered into a joint venture with Estonia-based pellet manufacturer Graanul Invest to develop pellet plants in Canada and the United States.^[20][21]

In 2013, it also acquired wood processing facilities in Atikokan and Wawa, Ontario, which it is converting into of pellet factories.^[15][20] These facilities are contracted to supply Ontario Power Generation and Drax Power with pellets for power generation.^[20][21]

In May 2014, Rentech acquired New England Wood Pellets, considered to be the largest producer of wood pellets for the U.S. heating market. Established in 1992, New England Wood Pellet operates three wood pellet facilities, located in the U.S. Northeast, which is the largest domestic market for consumption of wood pellets for heating.^[22]

Nitrogen fertilizers

Rentech entered into the nitrogen fertilizer business in 2006 when it acquired from Agrium an ammonia nitrogen fertilizer facility located in East Dubuque, Illinois.^[3]

In 2011, Rentech consolidated its nitrogen fertilizer business into subsidiary company Rentech Nitrogen Partners. At the same year, Rentech Nitrogen was listed at the New York Stock Exchange.^[23]

In 2012, Rentech acquired Agrifos LLC, which owns a synthetic granulated ammonium sulfate fertilizer plant in Pasadena, Texas.^[24]

Legal Troubles

As of Feb. 21, 2017, Rentech posted on their website that the board has decided to idle the Wawa facility due to equipment and operational issues that would require additional unbudgeted capital investment, also stated is the uncertainty of profitability of wood pellets for heating. Rentech stated in the announcement that idling the plant will allow Rentech to conserve liquidity as it formally explores strategic alternatives.^[25] Subsequently, as a result of this announcement, Rentech stock (RTK) dropped 44%, initiating legal action of investors. Currently Rentech is being investigated by Levi & Korsinsky, LLP, Holzer and Holzer, LLC, Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC, Goldbert Law PC, Rosen Law Firm, and Pomerantz Law Firm.^[26]

References

1. "Rentech's (RTK) CEO Keith Forman on Q4 2015 Results - Earnings Call Transcript | Seeking Alpha".
2. Wertz, Jean-Luc; Bédué, Olivier (2013). Lignocellulosic Biorefineries. CRC Press. pp. 457–459. ISBN 9781466573062.
3. Damas, Chris (2011-11-03). "Rentech Nitrogen Partners: A New Fertilizer MLP". Seeking Alpha. Retrieved 2014-02-02.
4. Capehart, Barney L (2007). Encyclopedia of Energy Engineering and Technology. Vol. 2–3. CRC Press. pp. 166–167. ISBN 9780849336539.
5. Wald, Matthew L. (1991-08-21). "From a Pollutant, a Cleaner Fuel". The New York Times. Retrieved 2014-02-01.
6. Cantner, Uwe; Malerba, Franco (2007). Innovation, Industrial Dynamics and Structural Transformation: Schumpeterian Legacies. Springer. p. 249. ISBN 9783540494652.
7. "Rentech to acquire Colorado methanol plant". Oil & Gas Journal. Vol. 98, no. 3. 2000-01-17. Retrieved 2014-02-02.
8. "Underdog Rentech furthers gas-to-liquids plans". Oil & Gas Journal. Vol. 98, no. 41. 2000-09-10. Retrieved 2014-02-02.
9. Austin, Anna (2009-05-13). "Rentech to build renewable diesel, green power plant". Biomass Magazine. Retrieved 2014-02-02.
10. Guidelines for Integrating Alternative Jet Fuel Into the Airport Setting. ACRP report. Vol. 60. Transportation Research Board. 2012. p. 112. ISBN 9780309213806. ISSN 1935-9802.
11. Martin, Christopher (2011-05-06). "Rentech Surges on Ontario Provincial Plan to Convert Trees Into Jet Fuel". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2014-02-01.
12. "Rentech plans to build $500M biomass plant in Ontario". TheRecord. The Canadian Press. 2011-05-06. Retrieved 2014-02-01.
13. "Rentech obtains final air permit for world's first Biomass Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle project". PennEnergy. 2011-07-19. Retrieved 2014-02-01.
14. Geiver, Luke (2012-01-10). "Rentech halts development on Fla. biomass power plant". Biomass Magazine. Retrieved 2014-02-01.
15. Simet, Anna (2013-11-14). "Rentech provides update on Ontario pellet projects". Biomass Magazine. Retrieved 2014-02-01.
16. "Rentech to close product demonstration unit". Biomass Magazine. 2013-03-01. Retrieved 2014-02-01.
17. Doom, Justin (2013-08-20). "Rentech Sells Mississippi Land After Ceasing Cellulosic Research". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2014-02-01.
18. Voegele, Erin L. (2014-11-06). "Rentech closes on sale of alternative energy technologies". Biomass Magazine. Retrieved 2019-09-11.
19. White, Ronald D. (2013-10-13). "Rentech shifts from green energy to a more fertile field". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on February 1, 2014. Retrieved 2014-02-01.
20. McKinnon, M. (2013-08-01). "Rentech to install pellet equipment in September; aims for April production". Atikokan Progress. Retrieved 2014-02-03.
21. Ross, Ian (2013-06-10). "Rentech drops woody jet fuel for wood pellets". Northern Ontario Business. Retrieved 2014-02-03.
22. Crowe, Deborah (2014-05-01). "Rentech Acquires Wood Pellet Producer". Los Angeles Business Journal. Retrieved 2014-05-05.
23. Soreng, Eileen Anupa (2011-11-04). "Rentech Nitrogen has a quiet market debut". Reuters. Retrieved 2014-02-01.^{[dead link‍]}
24. Saito-Chung., David (2012-11-02). "Rentech Buys Agrifos, Adds Sulfate Product To Mix". Investor's Business Daily. Retrieved 2014-02-02.
25. "Rentech, Inc. - Home". www.rentechinc.com. Retrieved 2017-02-22.
26. "RTK Stock Price & News - Rentech Inc. - Wall Street Journal". quotes.wsj.com. Archived from the original on 2017-02-22. Retrieved 2017-02-22.