Rentech is interested in buying the International Paper property for its proposed Natchez petroleum coke-to-liquid plant, a representative announced at a county supervisors meeting Tuesday.

Originally Rentech was looking to locate at the former Bellwood Country Club site.

Everything is very preliminary, but since the company is looking to expand the size of its proposed plant, possibly doubling its output, the IP property would offer more options, Rentech’s Joe Regnery, director of project development, said.

“We are very excited about the IP proposition,” Regnery said. “The Bellwood site has 87 acres, and that presented a challenge for expanding.”

Another benefit of the IP site, which occupies 400 acres, is the infrastructure, such as machine shops and parking lots, that already exists. It would be that much less to have to do, cutting construction time, he said.

The county is looking at buying the IP property. If they are able to acquire it, they would look at selling most of it to Rentech, Board Attorney Bob Latham said.

Rentech is still in the conceptual design and feasibility phase, Regnery said. That should be finished by the end of summer or beginning of fall, at which point they would be totally financially committed in the next phase, engineering.

The county approached the company late last year about the IP possibility, and Rentech has been working with the economic development authority and the county since then on fleshing out details.

The county recently voted to request state legislation giving them the right to create a utility commission. Such a commission would contract out the restoration and operation of the already existing water wastewater treatment plants that serve the site.

That would be a big boost for any future Rentech plant at the IP site, Regnery said.

“For us, that was a very big improvement over us having to handle it ourselves,” he said.

There is no guarantee the county will acquire the land or that Rentech will buy or lease it. In the meantime, the company will continue to plan for the Bellwood property.

“We’re still (looking) at Bellwood, but it would be a heck of a lot easier at IP,” he said.