Newly appointed managing director Greg L'Estrange said yesterday that the company was talking to three possible partners and expected an outcome soon.

"We continue to be encouraged by the level of engagement by those parties in the process particularly following the recent announcement of the Tasmanian forest agreement," he said.

"This is a complex project and the parties are cautious given the history of the project. However, we remain confident that this process will reach a conclusion soon."

More than 80 people attended the company's annual meeting at the Boathouse in Launceston, opposite Gunns' Lindsay Street headquarters.

They were heckled by a group of about 30 rowdy protesters as they arrived but inside the meeting proceeded quietly, free of the conflict of previous events.

Mr L'Estrange put to rest speculation this week about the source of money for the proposed $2.3 billion pulp mill. "We don't anticipate any financial assistance (for the pulp mill) from South America," he said.

The northern European milling company Sodra had pulled out of discussions over equity partners some time ago, he said.

He refused to put a deadline on when the deal would be done.

"We just have to say that it's a detailed process, not only to do with the finance but it's all of the other issues around the forest agreement, what's happening in the community so it's a broader engagement process and it takes time to get the right outcome for an investor and the community," he said.

He said that the pulp mill project had been modelled on a range of currency options to meet not just the immediate currency challenges but others in the future. "The economics around the project even with the variance in the currency are compelling," he said.

He admitted that Gunns would need to get the financial balance right to cover operating costs as the company divested itself of so- called unwanted infrastructure and assets and waited for sign- off on the pulp mill project.

Assets that could provide running costs along the way would include increased new term earnings from the company's plantation estate, he said.

The Northern woodchip sites announced this week as closing would be Hampshire and Long Reach, Mr L'Estrange said.

The Triabunna mill on the East Coast would remain open in the short term because it was a strategic mill servicing the Southern forestry operations.