The Buckingham ERCO Worldwide plant located in Gatineau (Quebec) was honored in joining the Energy Savers’ Circle for it's exceptional performance in energy efficiency.  The Award is given to major industrial sites that have significantly reduced it's electrical consumption by taking part in Hydro-Québec’s ENERGY WISE Programs.  ERCO joined some 30 other companies that have been recognized since 2003 for their commitment to energy efficiency.

“Hydro-Québec feels that it is important to pay tribute to companies that are taking practical steps to conserve energy and encourage them to keep up the good work,” said Louise Gravel, Manager – Major Customers.

ERCO Worldwide is proud to announce that once again we are the recipients of the Canadian Pacific Railway Safety Award.  Congratulations to our Buckingham and Hargrave facilities who had zero incidents with their CP shipments.

Our Buckingham facility has won this award for the 9th consecutive year, since inception. This is the 3rd year for the Hargrave facility.

ERCO Buckingham is one of 4 recipients to have consecutively and successfully achieved the Canadian Pacific Railway Safety Award since inception.

Congratulations to our ERCO Worldwide, Port Edwards facility who are the proud recipient of the 2009 Union Pacific Chemical Transportation Safety Pinnacle Award.  The facility is one of 40 winners who exhibited safe loading practices and zero non-accident releases.  This is an outstanding achievement and clearly demonstrates our commitment to the safe transportation of hazardous material.

The total population of hazardous material shippers exceeds 1,100 - this award truly recognizes great performance. 

Congratulations to our Mininco Plant who are the proud recipients of an award from the Mininco’s Anniversary Committee, for Outstanding Contribution to the success of this year's activities in Mininco, Chile.

ERCO's Port Edwards facility was presented the "Innovative Business of the Year" award at the Heart of Wisconsin Business and Economic Alliance award dinner.

The Port Edwards facility was also nominated “Manufacturer of the Year” by the local Chamber of Commerce.

The award was presented during the opening ceremony on September 2nd, 2008 in the Estación Mapocho Cultural Center (Santiago, Chile). Plant Manager, Mr. Aldo Melussa Illesca, accepted the award in behalf of the company.

ERCO Worldwide is proud to announce that once again we are the recipients of the Canadian Pacific Railway Safety Award.  Congratulations to our Buckingham and Hargrave Employees!!  Our Buckingham plant is one of 4 recipients who for the 8th consecutive year, since inception, has successfully achieved the Canadian Pacific Railway Safety Award, shipping in excess of 400 hazardous goods cars with no releases or overweight cars.

On May 22, 2008 - ERCO Worldwide announced the following price increases for sodium chlorate effective immediately or as contracts allow:

$25.00 CAD / tonne in Canada

$50.00 USD / ton in the US

Strong demand for sodium chlorate driven by robust pulp markets coupled with continued electrical, raw material and transportation pricing pressure necessitate this announcement. 

Sodium chlorate demand has increased substantially in the last 12 months. Not only are pulp producers running harder to meet market demands but a number of mills have undertaken productivity improvement projects or grade changes from hardwood to softwood that have further pressured industry production capabilities. This increased demand is forcing producers to operate during periods of peak electrical pricing to meet the market demand and contractual commitments.

The global increase in energy pricing continues to impact sodium chlorate not only on the electrical pricing but also in costs to deliver sodium chlorate to our customers and delivery of feedstocks to our plants.

Continued and increased strength of the Canadian currency are the reason for the significant difference in price announcement between the US and Canadian markets with the current exchange nearing 30 year highs with the US dollar. The US can only produce approximately 50% of their sodium chlorate requirements with the remainder coming from Canada and thus the influence of the Canadian dollar strength in this price announcement.

ERCO Worldwide were once again recipients of the CN 2007 Safe Handling Award.  These awards are handed out yearly to those shippers that move hazardous materials with CN and have zero non-accidental releases (NAR) for the entire year.  Congratulations to our all our employees who make this award possible.

Congratulation to ERCO Worldwide, Saskatoon Employees who received two awards. The CN 2007 Safe Handling Award recognizes the diligent loading and shipping of our rail cars, and the Chlorine Institute Process Safety Management Award (2005-2007) recognizes the sustained high performance of our plant operations, free of significant environmental incidents and/or releases.

On September 12, 2007 ERCO Worldwide announced the following price increases for sodium chlorate effective immediately or as contracts allow:

            $30.00 CAD / tonne on Canadian dollar accounts

            $55.00 USD / ton on US dollar accounts

Demand for sodium chlorate is the primary driver for this increase with industry consumption averaging approximately 5% higher than expected.  This strong demand is forcing chlorate plants to operate during periods of peak energy pricing in order to meet contractual obligations.  This tight supply demand balance is expected to remain for the foreseeable future.

ERCO Worldwide Announces US$95 Million Expansion of Port Edwards Chlor-alkali Facility. - Superior Plus Income Fund (the “Fund”) announced on August 8th, that ERCO Worldwide a division of the Fund will be converting its Port Edwards chlor-alkali facility from mercury based technology to membrane technology.  The investment in the facility conversion is estimated to be US$95 million (including capitalized interest and working capital of $8 million).  Start-up of the new state-of-the-art technology is projected to the last half of 2009, pending the completion of the permitting process.