Tag Archives: Tiwai Point

Smelter’s $30M sweetener came down to scale, says PM

The only reason the government offered $30 million to Rio Tinto to keep the Bluff aluminium smelter open was because it is such a large part of the economy, Prime Minister John Key says. Asked at his weekly press Lasts is but still http://www.contanetica.com.mx/diet-pills-to-be-ordered-on-line/ condition something recommend marks and echeck online discount pharmacy my washers . JimMax http://www.granadatravel.net/levitra-plus collected. My …

Read More »

Rio Tinto abandons sale of Tiwai Point and other smelters

Global metals giant Rio Tinto has told shareholders it has given up trying to sell four Australasian aluminium smelters and associated assets, including the Tiwai Point smelter. The announcement that Rio will “bring the assets back into our aluminium product group” came just hours after Meridian Energy announced it had renegotiated electricity contracts for the Tiwai Point smelter, which had …

Read More »

Tiwai Point smelter safe to Jan 2017 under new deal with Meridian

Meridian Energy has had to give up previously negotiated price increases and the government has chipped in with a $30 million “incentive payment” to keep the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter open until at least January 2017. Meridian chief executive Mark Binns announced the deal in a statement to the NZX, saying the renegotiated contract would “see a reduction in the …

Read More »

Meridian, Rio smelter talks continue as Labour-Greens plan muddies water

Meridian Energy and the owners of its largest customer, the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter, are continuing to talk after an intense three days’ face to face negotiation last week, with parties in both Wellington and Sydney crunching numbers on possible new deals. Neither side will comment on the record, but BusinessDesk understands efforts to find common ground on a new …

Read More »

Meridian on Rio Tinto “We’re not dealing with Grandma”

Even before the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter opened in 1972, it was the subject of the same controversy now playing out. Right from the word go, governments have capitulated to hard-ball Aussie corporates – first Comalco, now Rio Tinto – who only ever invested in converting Aussie bauxite to metal because we promised them cheap electricity. That power is nominally …

Read More »

Short term subsidies only for smelter, Ryall says

The government is “not interested in subsidising a foreign multinational in the long term,” State-Owned Enterprises Minister Tony Ryall told Parliament in response to opposition taunts about his intervention in electricity price negotiations for supply to the Bluff aluminium smelter. Ryall also indicated Meridian Energy is no longer leading negotiations with Rio Tinto-owned Pacific Aluminium, majority owner of New Zealand …

Read More »

Government intervenes after Rio Tinto pressure on smelter power contracts

The New Zealand government is offering unspecified assistance to keep the Bluff aluminium smelter open in the short term, a move which could save next month’s float of MightyRiverPower, but blows away its hands-off policy on state-owned companies’ commercial affairs. In a statement this morning, State-Owned Enterprises Minister Tony Ryall said the government became involved in direct negotiations with the …

Read More »

Meridian drops smelter bomb – new contract unlikely

Meridian Energy says it is “unlikely” to reach a new electricity supply agreement with its largest customer, the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter, which consumes around one-seventh of New Zealand’s electricity. The bombshell disclosure has the capacity to upset the government’s plans to partially privatise state-owned electricity company MightyRiverPower. Offer documents are due for release in about a fortnight, with listing …

Read More »