Producing Renewable Energy for a Cleaner Environment! From the desk of Tracey Olson Chief Executive Officer/General Manager April 2008 The Annual Meeting was held on March 27, 2008 at the Prairie’s Edge Casino and Resort Convention Center in Granite Falls. I and the rest of the staff were very pleased with the number of investors present and the interest they are taking in their company. I also want to express my thanks to all the shareholders that could not attend, but returned their signed proxy cards. It is very important that we receive a 40% turnout, either in person or by proxy, to constitute a quorum and conduct official business of the company. I will now take the opportunity to summarize the presentation made at the Annual Meeting. 2007 was an interesting year in the ethanol business. Just off an ethanol induced high resulting from unprecedented earnings during 2006, the industry was on a roll. The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) reported that there were 82 biorefineries under construction or expanding. The RFA anticipated that over 2 billion gallons of capacity would be added during 2007. Ethanol was receiving positive press and the future seemed bright. The price of corn started a steady incline in October 2006 resulting in a local cash corn price of approximately $3.57 per bushel in January 2007 and the ethanol netback had fallen to $1.84 per gallon. This was a definite eye opener considering that just 6 months prior, in July 2006, the local cash corn price was at approximately $2.00 per bushel and the ethanol netback was at $2.25 per gallon. Also in January, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency had issued a Notice of Violation containing several alleged violations. The majority of the alleged violations involved deficient reporting, inadequate record keeping and exceeding process limits. Upon receipt of the Notice of Violation, the management and staff took an active approach in resolving these issues. However, Granite Falls Energy was forced to reduce production to bring the facility back into compliance with the 45 million gallon 12 month rolling sum limit. In April, it was discovered that the coils of the stack coil were leaking and needed repair. After coordination with the manufacturer and considering the fact that we needed to reduce production to come into compliance with our permitted production limits, it was decided to make the repairs in June. We took advantage of the down time required to come into compliance with our production limits to have Duininck Brothers from Prinsburg, Minnesota pave the site roads. All of the employees and contractors worked great together and made all the repairs and completed the site paving within 5 days. By combining these activities, we kept the down time and traffic interruptions to a minimum. In September, the Board approved the capital expenditure of approximately $760,000 to install an oil separator. The separator will extract crude corn oil from the distiller’s syrup. Currently there are two main markets for this crude corn oil. It is used as a fat source for animal nutrition, and it is also used as a feedstock for biodiesel production. At the time the decision was made; crude corn oil was selling for about $0.20 per pound, which would result a net income of approximately $819,000 in the first year of operation. Since that time, crude corn oil has increased in value and is now selling for about $0.32 per pound, which equates to a net income of approximately $1.6 Million. On a pound per pound basis, crude corn oil is approximately the same value as ethanol. Assuming $0.32 per pound we estimate that we can offset our corn costs by approximately $0.16 per bushel! In October, it appeared that ethanol supply had outpaced demand and the ethanol netback had fallen to $1.53 with the local cash corn price at $3.33 per bushel. In addition, the price relationship betwee n ethanol and unleaded gasoline was at an all time low with ethanol trading approximately $0.55 per gallon LESS than unleaded gasoline. The fiscal year ended on a high note with net income being almost $16 Million, with under $600,000 remaining in long term debt. In addition, the Board of Governors voted to distribute an additional $200 per unit to the members in November for a total of $300 per unit distributed to the members in fiscal 2007, and a grand total of $621 per unit distributed since the plant began operations in November 2005. This amount reflects a 62% return on initial investment. After several months and countless meetings, the Notice of Violation received in January was resolved with the execution of a Stipulation Agreement on November 15, 2007. The Stipulation Agreement identified 28 alleged violations and 13 corrective actions. In addition, the Stipulation Agreement assessed a fine of $300,000 to Granite Falls Energy. At the time the Stipulation Agreement was signed, all but 2 of the 13 corrective actions had been Continued on page 2 Check us out on the web at _____ Phone www.granitefallsenergy.com 320-564-3100 |