I must be getting old Cap'n Allcock because I missed your...

I must be getting old Cap'n Allcock because I missed your comment that the machines for Egypt are being built in Egypt?! I could have sworn that in the Chairmans report he says "Activity at Walkamin will be further reduced in the year ahead as our core activity focus moves to Egypt. The new banana veneering and fibre production machines being built by our subsidiary AAMC, will be commissioned and trialled at Walkamin before being sold elsewhere".

Where does China come into it?

I also had another look at the PPY Egypt Production Facility (as detailed in the AGM presentation pg 24, oh and did anyone note that this presentation was highly confidential and not for distribution to the general public or at least that was the disclaimer on the bottom of each slide which has been plastered all over the internet said?). Anyway, I digress, back to slide 24:

"The factory will install 1x Veneering Unit with the capacity to process 60 tonnes banana tree trunk per hour". Question. Dry or wet tonnes? If dry tonnes that is is 600 wet tonnes/hour. Rubbish!!!

And get this "These unit will be operated for one 8 hr shift per day, 330 days per year, processing around 80,000 tonnes of Banana Tree Trunk per year". If the machine will be operating at 60 tonnes per hour 8 hours per day by 330 days per year then it should be processing 158,400 tonnes/year?

"Papyrus Egypt will have the capacity to produce around 2 million m2 veneer per year". Avid readers that is about 250sqm/24 hour day 330 days/year? Where is the quantum leap coming from? Current proven productivity is 3,000sqm/year or 0.375sqm/ 24 hour day?

"Papyrus Egypt will utilise the veneer to produce 250,000 m2 floorboards" interesting thats about 10% of the projected capacity of the veneering operation? "and 80,000 decorative and furniture panels (2440*1220*16mm)" which funnily enough is about 3,000 tonnes of total material (fibre, resins and waxes) which is a far cry from
"Papyrus Egypt will supply 25,000 tonne banana fibre to the Nag Hamady Fibre board Co. as raw material for MDF panel production". What is Nag Hamady going to do with the remaining 22,000 tonne of PPY banana fibre? Turn it to mulch? Or, is this destined for the "yellow pallet".

Let's look closely at slide 11 which is the yellow pallet slide. The machine shown in the top left of the slide appears to be a part of a moulded pulp line (similar to that used to make egg trays). The picture shown at the bottom right of the slide has been lifted from Alibaba (a Chinese Ebay if you like). It's a hydraulic press used to press plywood. Anyway, neither machine is proprietary technology of PPY and neither is the bag of "resin" depicted in the slide. In fact it is the basic requirements of a recycled paper pallet making system. About the only link to this project and PPY is banana fibre which is not part of a patent as it is a naturally occuring product and therefore doesn't need PPY for squat!

Having said all that, I can't wait to see the next instalment from PPY and what they have done with poor Mrs Fullers money.

On a side note I think I've made a mistake with my coal strategy given the latest on the South African climate change conference. Darn it.