Naturally Advanced Technologies Announces Partnership With Carolina Eastern to Manage Agronomics in Kingstree, S.C.
14 Juli 2011 - 8:30PM
PR Newswire (Canada)
PORTLAND, OR and VANCOUVER, BC, July 14, 2011 /CNW/ -- Company Will
Contract 15,000 Acres of Flax This Year and Establish Regional
Production Facility by Q1 2012 Announcement Follows Close of
C$13.1M in Bought Deal Financing PORTLAND, OR and VANCOUVER, BC,
July 14, 2011 /CNW/ - Naturally Advanced Technologies Inc. ("NAT"
or the "Company") (OTCBB: NADVF) (TSXV: NAT) today announced it has
entered into an agreement with Carolina Eastern Precision Ag, of
Pamplico, S.C., to provide agronomic consultation to the Company
and its contractors in the region. Under the terms of the
agreement, Carolina Eastern will assist NAT in the recruitment of
growers and contractors, and advise on all cultivation related to
flax that will be turned into its branded CRAiLAR fiber including
seeding rates, fertilization, and weed control. NAT plans to
contract more than 15,000 acres of flax, grown as a winter crop, in
its first year. The harvest will be the first used under a
purchasing agreement with HanesBrands (NYSE: HBI) for CRAiLAR
Flax fiber announced in March 2011. This follows an 18-month pilot
program with HanesBrands and the United States Department of
Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service (USDA - ARS), which
verified the opportunity for flax growth in the region. By the
first quarter of 2012, NAT anticipates it will build an integrated
facility in Williamsburg County capable of producing 300,000 lbs.
of CRAiLAR Flax fiber per week. S.C. is one of two flax
fiber-producing regions strategically chosen by NAT for the
location of facilities. "This announcement is a culmination of a
two-year process that took a significant amount of effort from
South Carolina's Department of Commerce, the USDA - ARS,
Williamsburg County, and HanesBrands," said Jason Finnis, founder
and COO of NAT. "We are confident in the experience and
relationships that Carolina Eastern brings to our team," continued
Finnis, "And we anticipate that their team's knowledge of the
region, from both the agronomic and economic standpoints, will
allow us to quickly and smoothly ramp up production demand to bring
CRAiLAR Flax to market," he concluded. The Carolina Eastern team
will be led by Charles "Russell" Duncan, who spent 27 years as an
agricultural extension agent in the Pee Dee area of S.C. with
Clemson University. A native of S.C., he worked in Clarendon,
Florence, Marion and Williamsburg counties during his tenure, and
served as administrator for the Clarendon and Williamsburg offices.
He is currently serving as chair of the International Certified
Crop Adviser board, a national program of the American Society of
Agronomy, which has established benchmarks for education,
experience and ethics in agronomy. "CRAiLAR Flax fiber is one of
the most well-researched agronomic opportunities we've seen in
South Carolina in my entire career," said Duncan. "Between their
partnerships with a well-established end-user in HanesBrands, along
with institutional research and the potential for local financing,
we are excited about the opportunity we will be presenting in
coming months and hope for a long-term opportunity to be
established among farmers looking for winter crop alternatives."
Farmer Field Day A farmer field day, to be held on Wednesday,
August 3 in Kingstree, S.C., is expected to attract more than 100
farmers in the region who are interested in growing an alternative
cash crop to wheat in the winter months. The event will be hosted
by NAT and Carolina Eastern, and will be supported by the USDA
office in Clemson, S.C., HanesBrands and Arbor One Farm Credit. The
Company intends to leverage regional sustainable agricultural
initiatives to fund a portion of the capital requirement to
establish itself in the region. CRAiLAR Flax Fiber Production in
South Carolina The Company recently completed winter growing trials
in a combined study with the USDA - ARS and HanesBrands, and has
identified the varietals that will produce the best fiber yields in
a growing season that traditionally can only produce winter wheat.
Dr. Jonn Foulk, Research Scientist, USDA -ARS, assited the team
with the research. He has studied flax production in the region for
nearly a decade. "As a winter crop, we found that South Carolina
offers significant upsides to growing varietals of flax that are
needed to produce CRAiLAR fiber," said Dr. Foulk. "The climate is
ideal, the fertilization and weed control are minimal and the
winter rainfall provides adequate irrigation. Additionally,
production in the southeastern U.S. has the potential to enhance
rural economic growth and to supply a natural domestic source of
fiber to industries." In August 2010 NAT signed a ten month
sublease on a facility in Kingstree, S.C., where it scaled-up flax
fiber production by conducting the decortication process of CRAiLAR
Flax fiber. The facility was originally established to conduct
processing of flax fiber under a USDA initiative. Companies with
which NAT is currently engaged in purchasing or development
agreements include Georgia-Pacific, Levi Strauss & Company,
Cintas Corporation, Ashland Inc., and HanesBrands. Naturally
Advanced Technologies Inc. Naturally Advanced Technologies Inc.
develops renewable and environmentally sustainable biomass
resources from flax, hemp and other bast fibers. The Company,
through its wholly owned subsidiary, CRAiLAR® Fiber Technologies
Inc., has developed proprietary technologies for production of bast
fibers, cellulose pulp, and their resulting by-products in
collaboration with Canada's National Research Council. CRAiLAR
technology offers cost-effective and environmentally sustainable
processing and production of natural, bast fibers resulting in
increased performance characteristics for use in textile,
industrial, energy, medical and composite material applications.
The Company was founded in 1998 as a provider of environmentally
friendly, socially responsible clothing. For more information,
visit www.naturallyadvanced.com. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange
Inc. nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined
in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility
for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Forward-Looking
Statement Disclaimer This news release includes certain statements
that may be deemed "forward-looking statements". All statements in
this news release, other than statements of historical facts, are
forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements or
information are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties
which could cause actual events or results to differ from those
reflected in the forward-looking statements or information and
including, without limitation, risks and uncertainties relating to:
any market interruptions that may delay the trading of the
Company's shares, technological and operational challenges, needs
for additional capital, changes in consumer preferences, market
acceptance and technological changes, dependence on manufacturing
and material supplies providers, international operations,
competition, regulatory restrictions and the loss of key employees.
In addition, the Company's business and operations are subject to
the risks set forth in the Company's most recent Form 10-K, Form
10-Q and other SEC filings which are available through EDGAR at
www.sec.gov. These are among the primary risks we foresee at the
present time. The Company assumes no obligation to update the
forward-looking statements. To view this news release in HTML
formatting, please use the following URL:
http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/July2011/14/c5481.html p
/p p bMedia Contact:/bbr/ Ryan Leverenzbr/ Lew Leverenz
Associatesbr/ (415) 999-1418br/ a
href="mailto:ryan.leverenz@gmail.com"ryan.leverenz@gmail.com/a /p p
bInvestor Contact:/bbr/ Rick Anguillabr/ Guidance Counselbr/ (503)
820-3565br/ a
href="mailto:ir@naturallyadvanced.com"ir@naturallyadvanced.com/a /p
p bCorporate Officer:/bbr/ Guy Prevostbr/ CFObr/ (866) 436.7869 /p
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