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Romania To Slap Curbs On Buying Farmland

The government is to restrict the ownership of farmland by any single individual to 100 hectares – in what is seen as a measure to restrict purchases by foreign buyers. Marian Chiriac Bucharest The Romanian Agriculture Minister is to send parliament a draft law which would limit individual ownership of farmland to 100 hectares, as a way to protect agriculture. “The law will apply to all persons looking to buy farmland, regardless of their nationality. Those who want to farms larger than 100 hectares can do this only through locally registered companies,” Minister Daniel Constantin said. The law will not be applied retroactively, Constantin added. Farmaland for sale must be bought only by people who must prove they have farming know-how and experience of at least five years in the field. Those who already own farmland and want to buy more land must prove that they have used the land they own already for farming activities. Analysts say the law is aimed mainly at stopping foreigners from buying land in the country after December 31, 2013, when Romania is supposed to open up its market, as agreed in the EU accession treaty. Foreign ownership of land has become a hot issue in Romania. In recent months, the government expressed fears that foreign buyers could take advantage of low land prices and eventually control Romanian agriculture. The amount of farmland in Romania owned by foreigners has increased by more than 10 per cent in the last year alone, prompting the authorities to consider curbs. According to official data, foreigners now own over 710,000 hectares of farmland, which is around 8.5 per cent of the country’s total farmland. Of this amount, around a quarter belongs to Italian citizens, 15 per cent to Germans, and around 10 per cent to buyers from the Middle East. By law, only foreign companies can buy land in Romania – but that restriction has to be lifted by 2014, and the European Commission has called for it to be lifted even earlier. Ironically, agricultural land is not seen as an asset by most Romanians, who tend to consider agriculture a thing of the past. As many as 1.3 million hectares of arable land lie unused in Romania, according to statistics. The total agricultural surface in Romania is 14.7 million hectares, of which 9.3 million hectares are arable. Almost half of Romania’s 19.5 million people still live in rural areas. But agriculture has long lacked investment, while other problems include fragmentation of holdings, property-related lawsuits and obsolete technology. Continue reading →

Posted on November 5, 2013 by tsiadmin | Posted in Investment, investments, News, Property, Taylor Scott International, TSI, Uk | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Romania To Slap Curbs On Buying Farmland

Stobart Wheels Out Biomass Strategy

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/7a76c7a0-3cbc-11e3-86ef-00144feab7de.html#ixzz2ijzRsktZ October 24, 2013 9:04 pm Stobart wheels out biomass strategy By Thomas Hale Trains, planes and biomass are now Stobart Group’s priorities, as the high-profile haulage company attempts to streamline its business, and move past a period of boardroom instability. Andrew Tinkler, Stobart’s chief executive, said on Thursday that the group made famous by its fleet of green long-distance lorries would be focusing on the “two growth areas of biomass and airports”, under a simplification of the four-year growth plan it implemented in 2011. Stobart had been seeking to diversify its revenue streams away from road haulage through acquisitions, which have included a property portfolio and a civil engineering business. However, with more than 90 per cent of revenues still coming from transport, Iain Ferguson, the group’s new chairman, has announced a focus on businesses that are capable of delivering significant growth. Presenting the company’s half-year results, he said his aim was to “build out the airport, build out the biomass, and make sure that they also grow organically”. Mr Ferguson joined Stobart on October 1 after a litany of management and corporate governance problems earlier in 2013. In April, Avril Palmer-Baunack was ousted by a boardroom coup after only three months in the role. Ms Palmer-Baunack’s appointment had been supported by Invesco Perpetual fund manager Neil Woodford, who held a 37 per cent stake in the company. But other shareholders opposed Ms Baunack’s attempts to sell off assets and focus solely on the haulage business. Mr Ferguson said he also has Mr Woodford’s support, but emphasised that Stobart’s future growth would not be delivered by road alone. Stobart is on a “relentless quest for innovation”, he said. Ben Whawell, finance director, forecast that investments in biomass, planes and trains – which are almost complete – would begin to pay off in coming years, contributing to increased revenues and “a lot more to profitability”. “In three to four years’ time, half our profits may come from biomass,” he said. Biomass, which involves burning waste wood for energy, is already Stobart’s second largest contributor of revenues after transport. In the six months to August 31, biomass tonnage reached 345,000 – a 52 per cent rise on the same period last year. Investment in air transport is also paying off. After acquiring Southend Airport in 2008 for £21m, the company has invested a total of £140m in the facility, and in the last half-year period passenger numbers rose 43 per cent to 528,000 – helping Stobart’s air division turn a loss into a small profit. As a group, Stobart – which employs more than 1,000 staff – reported revenues of £330m for the six months to August 31, up from £247m in the same period last year. Pre-tax profit fell slightly, to £10.4m, mainly due to high operating costs and the discontinuation of a business providing transport pallets for chilled goods. Stobart shares rose 0.7 per cent to 130.5p on Thursday. Continue reading →

Posted on October 25, 2013 by tsiadmin | Posted in Investment, investments, News, Property, Taylor Scott International, TSI, Uk | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Stobart Wheels Out Biomass Strategy

Biodiesel Tops 1 Billion Gallons Produced This Year

Biodiesel board says RFS has helped industry grow Compiled by staff Published: Oct 25, 2013 New EPA statistics released Thursday show the biodiesel industry has cracked the 1 billion gallon mark for the third consecutive year, with several months of production remaining, the National Biodiesel Board said. Anne Steckel, NBB vice president, called the production levels a testament to the hard work of the biodiesel industry, noting the impact of the Renewable Fuels Standard in diversifying fuel supplies. Biodiesel, the first EPA-designated Advanced Biofuel to reach commercial-scale production nationwide and 1 billion gallons of annual production, uses a mix of resources such as recycled cooking oil, soybean oil and animal fats. The latest production figures, which cover volumes reported through September, show that the industry produced 140 million gallons in September, for a year-to-date biodiesel total of nearly 1.1 billion gallons. EPA’s production volumes are reported under the Biomass-based Diesel category of the RFS. The monthly numbers show a total of nearly 167 million gallons under the Biomass-based Diesel category for the month of September. That total includes some 27 million gallons of renewable diesel. For the year, total Biomass-based Diesel production under the RFS stands at more than 1.2 billion gallons, on pace to reach some 1.7 billion gallons by year’s end, significantly exceeding the RFS requirement of 1.28 billion gallons, NBB said. Continue reading →

Posted on October 25, 2013 by tsiadmin | Posted in Investment, investments, News, Property, Taylor Scott International, TSI, Uk | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Biodiesel Tops 1 Billion Gallons Produced This Year