Forscot chairman Ed Gillespie made the statement following a company board meeting to discuss progress on the £1bn project, which would see a pulp, paper, sawmill and biomass plant built at Invergordon.
The statement follows a special report in TTJ in which MSP Fergus Ewing questioned the wisdom of using public money to help finance the project, especially as established timber companies BSW Timber and Balcas were progressing with their own schemes.
“We have a number of funding opportunities and we are in detailed discussions with all of these potential investors,” said Mr Gillespie.
“We always knew that raising this interim stage of funding would be difficult and it is unfortuantely taking longer than originally expected. However, we will continue our efforts to realise this project while we have potential sources of investment.”
Mr Gillespie said Forscot could produce high quality products for which there was growing demand. The operation would also be one of the “lowest cost producers in the global industry”, he added.
The company said it is in discussions about raising the initial £6m-8m funding required for acquiring the site, applying for environmental and planning permits, developing detailed engineering design and recruiting a senior management team.
“Once this stage of funding is in place, Forscot is confident that the remainder of the investment will be provided by a combination of debt, equity and grant,” the company added.
