KiOr Expresses Funding And Continued Operation Concerns In Filing

U.S. cellulosic biofuels producer, KiOR, filed its annual report with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) this week. In the report, the company expresses concerns about sufficient funding to continue operations moving forward. Although KiOR has received a conditional funding commitment of up to $25 million from its founder Vinod Khosla, receipt of the funding depends on certain production milestones that may not be met. In December 2013, KiOR reported a $347.5 million net loss, and in January 2014, the company announced that it would temporarily idle its Columbus, Mississippi, plant while it makes plant improvements. KiOR announced this week that it would idle the plant indefinitely. This development is not good news for the biofuels industry, since EPA has largely relied upon KiOR's production estimates to set the annual cellulosic renewable volume obligations for the federal Renewable Fuel Standard.