Weyerhaeuser Company and Aymium announced they have entered a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to partner to produce and sell 1.5 million tons of sustainable biocarbon annually for use in metals production. As an initial stage of this partnership, the companies have formed a joint venture -- TerraForge Biocarbon Solutions -- to build a jointly owned facility adjacent to Weyerhaeuser's lumber mill in McComb, Miss., that will convert wood fiber into biocarbon through a combination-free, low-emissions process. Under the MOU, the companies will secure long-term biocarbon sales agreements and identify sites to construct multiple new production facilities across the Weyerhaeuser footprint over the next five years, leveraging Weyerhaeuser's world-class timberland and manufacturing portfolio and Aymium's proprietary technology and unparalleled track record of producing and supplying biocarbon products globally.
At full scale, the platform of operating facilities will have the potential to convert over 7 million tons of wood fiber -- provided exclusively by Weyerhaeuser -- to deliver 1.5 million tons of metallurgical-grade biocarbon annually as a drop-in replacement for coal in iron, steel, silicon, ferro-alloys and other metals production. Aymium has generated a significant global sales pipeline based on years of trials with leading global metals producers. The company's patented products are engineered to immediately replace coal and coke without the need for capital investment or process modification, and with superior carbon levels, energy value, handling and environmental attributes to coal.
Aymium's process uses third-party certified sustainable biomass and is powered by self-generated renewable energy. Aymium operates four large production facilities in North America and is headquartered in Minnesota, USA. Aymium's current investors include Sandton Capital, Bedrock Industries, Steel Dynamics, Rio Tinto, Nippon Steel Trading, and Hokuriku Electric Power Company.
