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Exhibit 10.8
ETHANOL MARKETING AGREEMENT
This Ethanol Marketing Agreement ("Agreement") is made and
entered into as of the 9th day of October, 2006, by and between E
ENERGY ADAMS, LLC, a Nebraska limited liability company ("E
ENERGY"), and AVENTINE RENEWABLE ENERGY, INC., a Delaware
corporation ("ARE") (each a "Party", and collectively the "Parties").
In consideration of the mutual terms and conditions contained
herein, the Parties agree as follows:
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1.
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Term and Termination: The term of this
Agreement shall commence on the date hereof and shall continue for
a primary term of three (3) years, from the first day of the
first month commencing after the date of the first Bill of Lading
delivered hereunder and thereafter; automatically renewing for
successive one (1) year terms, unless terminated on the
expiration date of the initial three (3) year primary term, or
on the expiration date of any subsequent one (1) year renewal
term, in each case by either Party with at least one (1) year
written notice prior to such expiration date. If one of the parties
breaches the terms of this Agreement, the other party may give the
breaching party a notice in writing which specifically sets out the
nature and extent of the breach, and the steps that must be taken
to cure the breach. After receiving the written notice, the
breaching party will then have thirty (30) days to cure the
breach, if the breach does not involve a failure to market and
distribute the ethanol as required by this Agreement. If the breach
does involve a failure to market and distribute the ethanol as
required by this Agreement, then the breaching party will have five
(5) calendar days after receiving the written notice to cure
the breach. If the breaching party does not cure any breach within
the applicable cure period, then the non-breaching party will have
the right to terminate this Agreement immediately.
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2.
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Quantity and Quality
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E ENERGY shall sell exclusively to ARE its total
output of "Ethanol" (as hereinafter defined), currently anticipated
to be fifty million (50,000,000) gallons per year. Ethanol shall be
delivered FOB the Plant, and title shall pass on the date of the
Bill of Lading.
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A.
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For purposes of this Agreement, the "Ethanol" of
E ENERGY shall include all fuel-grade ethanol produced at E
ENERGY’s Adams, Nebraska, facility (the "Plant"), except that
E ENERGY shall retain the right to ratably market up to ten percent
(10%) of E ENERGY’s total annual production. E ENERGY shall
give sufficient advance written notice of such gallons to ARE as
the parties may agree. Upon receipt of such notice from E ENERGY,
ARE shall grant written permission to E ENERGY to make such gallons
available for marketing by E ENERGY as soon as possible, and such
permission shall not be unreasonably withheld. Under no
circumstance shall any gallons committed to customers of
ARE
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be available for marketing by E ENERGY. Once
permission is granted to E ENERGY by ARE, the requested gallons
shall become the sole responsibility of E ENERGY.
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B.
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Such Ethanol shall meet or exceed all industry
standards or any specifications so required by the customer. ARE
shall have the right to reject any Ethanol which does not meet such
standards and such standards are subject to change by
ARE.
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3.
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ARE shall:
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A.
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Be solely responsible for the marketing, sale and
delivery of all of the Ethanol produced by E ENERGY at the Plant,
at the price outlined in Section 5.
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B.
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Remit payment to E ENERGY for the Ethanol as
provided in Section 5; and
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C.
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Be solely responsible for scheduling all
shipments of Ethanol with E ENERGY, which shall include obtaining
sufficient railcar, tank trucks and other transport as may be
needed to handle said production, negotiating rates and tariffs to
be charged for delivery of said production to the customer,
ascertaining that said production is delivered where contracted as
intended, handling all purchase agreements with customers and any
complaints in connection therewith and collecting all accounts and
undertaking any legal collection procedures as may be
necessary.
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D.
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Commit all of ARE’s Midwest equity gallons
to the pool.
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4.
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E ENERGY shall:
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A.
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Provide to ARE on a timely basis a fifteen month
production forecasts, monthly updates to the fifteen month
production forecasts, daily plant inventory balances and shipment
information, and other information reasonably requested by ARE. E
ENERGY shall use its reasonable best efforts to meet the monthly
production targets reflected in the fifteen month production
forecast;
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B.
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Notify ARE promptly of any material unscheduled
shut-down, suspension, or significant decrease in production at the
Plant that was not reported in the rolling fifteen month production
forecasts or monthly updates provided under Section 4.A.
above;
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C.
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Provide to ARE specifications and certificates of
analysis of the Ethanol sold to ARE that are consistent with the
specifications referred to in Section 2.B. above. E ENERGY
shall, at its expense, provide or cause to be provided all testing
and related test equipment at or in the vicinity of
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the Plant to determine compliance with such
specifications. ARE or its representative may, at ARE’s
expense, have the right to perform periodic tests to determine
compliance with such specifications.
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D.
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Be responsible for compliance with all federal,
state, and local rules, regulations, and requirements regarding the
shipment of Ethanol from the Plant, including but not limited to,
all U.S. Department of Transportation ("DOT") requirements relating
to shipment of hazardous materials (e.g. proper paperwork, railcars
meeting DOT requirements, etc.).
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E.
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Provide for a minimum of eight (8) calendar
days storage of the Ethanol on E ENERGY’s premises at E
ENERGY’s cost;
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F.
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For all gallons sold to ARE, use certified meters
or weight-scales that provide both gross and net 60º
Fahrenheit temperature compensated gallons; and
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G.
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Provide any of the information to be provided by
E ENERGY pursuant to this Section 4 to ARE electronically in
data form, if such information is available in such
form.
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5.
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Pricing and Commission
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A.
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Sales Price. The per gallon sale price
E ENERGY shall receive for the Ethanol sold to ARE under this
Agreement shall be based on the "Alliance Net Pool Price" (as
defined below) which shall be adjusted to reflect the "Pooled
Volume Adjustment" and/or "Pooled Volume True-Up" (as those terms
are defined below), as applicable. An illustrative example of the
calculation of Alliance Net Pool Price is attached as
Exhibit A hereto.
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a.
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"Alliance Net Pool Price" shall mean, with
respect to any month, (i) the weighted average gross price per
gallon received by ARE for all fuel grade Ethanol that was
(A) supplied by an alliance partner or produced by ARE and
(B) sold during such month by ARE, minus (ii) all
actual costs (on a per gallon basis) incurred by ARE in conjunction
with the handling, movement and sale of such Ethanol, including but
not limited to terminal lease charges, throughput charges, terminal
shrinkage costs, freight charges, tariffs, costs of leasing
railcars, trucks, river barges and ocean going vessels, government
taxes and assessments, insurance, inspection fees, administrative
costs, working capital carrying costs, bad debt expense, and costs
of purchasing and delivering replacement ethanol due to lost or
interrupted Ethanol production and other costs, but excluding
direct marketing costs incurred in marketing such Ethanol. ARE
shall use commercially reasonable efforts to contain the costs
described in clause (ii) above so as to maximize the Alliance
Net Pool Price.
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b.
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If ARE’s pooled volume of fuel grade
Ethanol at the end of a month is higher than its pooled volume at
the end of the immediately preceding month because pooled sales
volumes were less than the aggregate volume supplied by the
alliance partners or produced by ARE during such month, the
Alliance Net Pool Price for such month shall be calculated as if
the amount of such increase was included as gallons supplied by the
alliance partners and/or produced by ARE and sold by ARE during
such month at a price per gallon equal to the estimated Alliance
Net Pool Price for the immediately following month (as determined
in good faith by ARE). The amount by which the Alliance Net Pool
Price for any month is increased or decreased as a result of the
foregoing sentence is the "Pooled Volume Adjustment" for such
month.
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c.
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In the event that the actual Alliance Net Pool
Price for a month is different from the estimated Alliance Net Pool
Price used in calculating the Pooled Volume Adjustment for the
immediately preceding month, an adjustment to the Alliance Net Pool
Price in the current month shall be made by an offset which is
equal to the amount of such difference. Such adjustment is the
"Pooled Volume True-Up." Payment shall be made in accordance with
paragraph C below. A Pooled Volume True-Up shall occur at the time
of payment for the last delivery of Ethanol under this Agreement to
reflect the actual Alliance Net Pool Price for the final month of
the term of this Agreement.
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B.
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Commission. For each gallon of Ethanol
sold by E ENERGY to ARE under this Agreement, ARE shall deduct from
the Alliance Net Pool Price a commission equal to three quarters of
one percent (0.75%) of the Alliance Net Pool Price.
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C.
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Payment. For all quantities of Ethanol
purchased by ARE from E ENERGY and shipped from the Plant during a
one-week period beginning on Monday and ending on the following
Sunday, ARE shall pay the estimated Alliance Net Pool Price
referred to in Section 5.A. less commissions referred to in
Section 5.B., to E ENERGY by ACH or wire no later than ten
(10) business days following the end of said one-week period.
If at calendar month’s end, the actual Alliance Net Pool
Price exceeds the estimated Alliance Net Pool Price, ARE shall pay
E ENERGY on or before the 15 th business day of the following
calendar mon
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