Enviva Inc. says it plans to continue building a $375 million wood pellet production facility in Alabama, despite financial difficulties that resulted in a cratering of the company’s stock price and a restructuring of its senior leadership team.

Shares of Enviva plummeted last week from a 52-week high of $61.99 last November to a low of $0.61 after the company announced it had lost $85.2 million in the third quarter of 2023, much more than previously expected. The stock price dropped by nearly 80% in just two days following the announcement.

Enviva produces wood pellets that are burned for heat or to generate electricity, mostly overseas, where governments subsidize wood-burning power plants as a renewable energy source.

The company in its Q3 earnings statement blamed the losses on a decrease in the price of wood pellets, operational problems at its plants, and said that it may not be able to repay its debts if market conditions continue.

“These conditions and events in the aggregate raise substantial doubt regarding the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern [to continue operating],” the company said in it’s Q3 report.

However, in the same report, Enviva says it is planning to continue construction of its new plant in Epes, located in Sumter County in south Alabama near the Mississippi state line.

“Construction of Epes is progressing well, and the Company continues to expect that the facility will be operational in mid-2024,” Enviva’s stock report said. “Approximately 40% of the total investment has been made to date, with the remaining investment scheduled throughout the next seven quarters.”

Enviva did not respond to requests for comment from AL.com seeking more details about progress at the Epes facility and whether construction might be jeopardized by the company’s financial woes.

The Epes project was initially announced as a $175 million facility in 2019, but Enviva said at the groundbreaking in June 2023 that it expects to invest $375 million on average in each new plant going forward, including the Epes plant and another planned facility in Mississippi.

Alabama politicians from both parties hailed the arrival of the Enviva plant, cheering the expected 300 jobs it would bring to Alabama’s Black Belt where such jobs are scarce.

“The fact that the world’s largest wood pellet producer is building its largest production facility to date here, in Sweet Home Alabama, is yet another testament to our nation-leading business climate and world-class workforce,” Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey said at the groundbreaking ceremony on June 28.

The company’s latest report says construction on the Epes facility is proceeding, while the company is considering a 12-month delay on the Mississippi plant due to its financial issues.

Enviva says it is engaging in “executing a multi-faceted transformation plan,” under new leadership. Previous CEO Thomas Meth relinquished his title while staying on as president. The company’s new CFO, Glenn Nunziata, was named interim CEO, effective Nov. 9.

“Since joining Enviva approximately two months ago as CFO, I have devoted my full attention to analyzing our operations, performance, and financial profile,” Nunziata said in the Q3 report. “While we have a great deal of work to do, we are encouraged by the progress being made through our cost reduction and productivity initiatives.”

The company also faces a class-action lawsuit filed by shareholders alleging that Enviva “failed to disclose material information about the financial condition of the Company,” causing them to lose money.

As of the publication of this story, the company’s stock price had rebounded slightly from last week’s lows, trading around $1.50 per share.