OptiCept enters into an agreement with a global forest company for the treatment of cuttings in Brazil
OptiCept Technologies has today entered into an agreement with Aperam BioEnergia LTDA ("Aperam") in Brazil regarding OptiBoost for the treatment of Eucalyptus cuttings. This is another agreement for OptiCept in the South American market regarding cuttings. The technology will be tested over a 5-month period, for which Aperam pays 50,000 euros. In order to carry out the testing, it is required that an OptiCept Saga machine is made available to Aperam, OptiCept's revenue for the machine is not included in the above contract sum.
The cost and delivery of OptiCept's Saga machine is intended to be handled separately in an agreement with Aperam's machine importer. Installation in Brazil will begin in November 2022. The collaboration with Aperam aims to achieve improved rooting and survival when producing commercial seedlings for planting. In case of verified results, the intention of the parties is to discuss a long-term commercial agreement.
Aperam is a subsidiary of Aperam South America, which is a multinational listed company with operations in over 40 countries that, among other things, manufactures stainless steel and special steel. The company is a world leader in the cultivation of various varieties of tropical tree cuttings and produces approximately 30–50 million Eucalyptus cuttings annually. Among other things, the trees are grown to produce coal, which is used for steel production.
"South America is a strategically important market for OptiBoost for cuttings and the fact that we are joining another world-leading player in Aperam is another step towards establishing the technology commercially. OptiCept is currently discussing with several forestry companies in both South America and Asia. We can thus state that we have established another product with OptiBoost technology", says Thomas Lundqvist, CEO OptiCept Technologies.