TFS to complete first harvest in June

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Image credit: flickr User: Millennium.Soap

TFS Corporation Limited, owner and manager of an Indian sandalwood plantation in northern Australia, has announced that the harvest of its first project, the East Kimberley Sandalwood Project No.1 (“EKS”), was proceeding as expected and would be completed in June 2014.

Image credit: flickr User: Millennium.Soap
Image credit: flickr User: Millennium.Soap

According to the ASX announcement by TFS, the company has already commenced the second and final phase of its harvest of the EKS project, which stretches across 101 hectares. TFS estimates that the harvest and processing of the wood into a marketable form will take approximately six weeks and be completed in June.

Established in 1999, the EKS project is the company’s first commercial plantation, and marketed to manage investment scheme (“MIS”) investors. Out of the 101 hectares to be harvested in the second phase, MIS growers own 69 hectares, with the balance owned by TFS.

In addition, the company has advised that its second commercial plantation, TFS Sandalwood Project No.2 (“TFS2”), which was established in 2000, is scheduled to be harvested in 2015.

The company has also confirmed that in accordance with the contractual arrangements between TFS and the EKS growers, the harvested wood belonging to third party growers will be sold at auction, managed by Grays Online, one of Australia’s leading online auctioneers during July.

Adertisement

Grays Online is expected to commence the worldwide marketing of the growers’ harvested wood during May. The auction is expected to take place during July 2014, meaning the auction proceeds are likely to be paid to EKS growers in August 2014.

TFS was founded in 1997 to exploit the success of Government trials into the plantation growth of Indian sandalwood in the Ord River Irrigation Area (ORIA) of north-east Western Australia. As part of its vision to be a vertically integrated producer of finished sandalwood producers, TFS owns a significant proportion in its own right and in 2008 acquired Mount Romance Australia, the Albany-based sandalwood processor and oil distributor.

The company is ranked as an industry leader in ethical and sustainable practices by Oekom Research, a leading international ratings agency.