Bioenergy of America files for bankruptcy as feedstock costs bite; former industry giant falls as Europe’s Biodiesel Corp avoids similar fate in debt-for-equity swap

In New Jersey, Bioenergy of America filed for bankruptcy yesterday, listing assets of $1-$10 million and debts of $10-$50 million. The company represented 15 percent of US biodiesel supply in 2005, has been hit hard by the rise in soy feedstock prices and flat biodiesel prices.

In related news, European-based Biodiesel Corporation avoided a bankruptcy filing when primary debt holder Barclay Bank agreed to a debt-for-equity swap.

The bankruptcy annoucnements are the first since Nebraska-based E3 BioFuels plant filed for bankruptcy last month after mechanical problems made the rate of production unprofitable. The plant has shut down production pending reorganization. The plant, which opened in June, was one of the first to use a “closed-loop” system where methane from 28,000 head of cattle was used to provide power to the plant, and distillers grains from ethanol production were fed to the cattle. A boiler explosion was blamed primarily for the loss in production capacity.

Earth Biofuels successfully reorganized itself in the second half of 2007 after several creditors petitioned for a Chapter 7 liquidation.

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