Smelter sale ‘for the right price’
Rio Tinto says Tiwai Point aluminium smelter near Bluff could still be sold, if the price is right.
It was reported in Australia in November that Rio Tinto had shelved its plans to sell its whollyowned subsidiary and business unit Pacific Aluminium, formed in 2012.
In clarification yesterday, a Rio Tinto spokesman said the unit, which looks after the Tiwai Point smelter and several Australian assets, had been reabsorbed, after an unsuccessful fact-finding mission to create a spin-off to the company, in 2013.
However, in further clarification, the spokesman said like any company asset, the aluminium unit could still be sold at any time, if the price was right.
‘‘If a buyer came along we would have to entertain it, so it remains status quo.’’
The company New Zealand Aluminium Smelter that operates Tiwai, is 79.36 per cent owned by Pacific Aluminium and 20.64 per cent owned by Japan’s Sumitomo Chemical Company.
New Zealand Aluminium Smelter chief executive Stew Hamilton said Tiwai’s status had little bearing on the day-to-day operation.
‘‘The team at Tiwai continues to be focussed on running one of the most efficient smelters in the world producing high purity low carbon aluminium.’’
On Thursday, the smelter’s Potline 4, which had been closed for six years, re-opened because of improved market conditions and a new contract with Meridian Energy. It would increase the smelter’s production capacity by around 10 per cent and, with increased orders for other products, had created 45 jobs.
Tiwai Point contributes $525 million to the Southland economy (10.5 per cent of Southland’s GDP) and $1.6m in Southland regional sales, with export revenue of around $1 billion each year.
About 900 full time equivalent employees and contractors work at the smelter.
Southland Manufacturers Trust chairman Andrew Leys, also Otago-Southland Employers Association president, said ownership was irrelevant.
‘‘It was always going to be sold as a going concern. Southland can take a great deal of confidence in the fact the potline re-opened. It was not a decision that was made lightly, and it is very positive.
‘‘Southland can be very proud of what has been achieved over the past 50 years [at the smelter] and the way it continues to innovate.’’