TIMBER company Gunns could be poised to announce a joint venture partner for its Bell Bay pulp mill as early as Monday.
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Market analysts said yesterday that the second postponement by Gunns in two days of a promised detailed market update indicated that the company was preparing for a major announcement.
Today, in a further sign that the company is trying to progress the pulp mill project, it has called for nominations for its pulp mill "community liaison committee".
On Wednesday, Gunns agreed to a $23 million state government payout for exiting native forest harvesting.
It said then it would provide a detailed update to the Australian Securities Exchange the next day.
Yesterday it told the ASX that the company was continuing to assess the matters arising out of the agreement.
Gunns managing director Greg L'Estrange and Tasmanian Environment Protection Authority director Alex Schaap have been in Canberra this week talking to federal government bureaucrats.
An EPA spokeswoman said that Mr Schaap was still waiting on advice before making a decision on whether Gunns had met a permit condition requiring substantial commencement on the pulp mill.
Gunns' earthworks contractor John Holland-Hazell Bros has continued with the $20 million site works.
Industry analyst Robert Eastment said that the further delay in either an announcement or a return to share trading suggested that the announcement would be a big one.
The company could have an announcement about a joint venture partner for the pulp mill, Mr Eastment said.
It is understood that such a partner is likely to come from one of the Scandinavian countries.
Finland, home country of Gunns pulp mill project director Timo Piilonen, is the most favoured.
Mr Piilonen built a pulp mill in Uruguay for his former Finnish employer, Metsa-Botnia.
Financial analyst Tony Gray agreed it appeared that Gunns was gearing up for an announcement on a joint-venture partner.
He said that such an announcement would be a win and a loss for the former major, Tasmanian-owned company.
"You would have thought that Gunns would be a minority partner in the mill considering its financial position," he said.
Gunns said yesterday that the market update would be ready for release before the ASX opened on Monday morning. It expected its shares to resume trading then.
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