Is Tiwai Point smelter closing?
Rio Tinto U-turns on Tiwai Point aluminium smelter closure by extending ops to 2024. Rio Tinto’s New Zealand Aluminium Smelter (NZAS) in Tiwai Point will continue to operate until December 31, 2024 after reaching an electricity agreement with Meridian Energy, the producer said on Wednesday January 13.
Who owns Tiwai Point?
Rio Tinto Group
The Tiwai Point Aluminium Smelter is an aluminium smelter owned by Rio Tinto Group (79.36%) and the Sumitomo Group (20.64%), via a joint venture called New Zealand Aluminium Smelters (NZAS) Limited.
What will happen to Tiwai Point?
The threatened Tiwai Point aluminium smelter will keep operating through to the end of December 2024, in a new deal just announced to the New Zealand stock exchange. Mining conglomerate Rio Tinto announced last year it was closing Tiwai due to high energy and transmission costs.
How many people work at the Tiwai smelter?
1000 people
In 2020, the smelter’s majority owner Rio Tinto announced it would wind down the Tiwai plant – which employs 1000 people and creates a further 1600 indirect jobs – by August 2021 due to high energy and transmission costs.
What’s the future of the Tiwai Point smelter?
Wednesday is ”D day” for the future of the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter near Bluff when its owners decide whether they want to give Meridian Energy notice they want to terminate the smelter’s electricity contract.
Is the New Zealand aluminium smelters cutting production?
New Zealand Aluminium Smelters (NZAS) says cutting production at Tiwai Point by 5% is only a temporary measure, with no immediate impact on staffing levels.
Who is the owner of Tiwai aluminum smelter?
A total of $70 million in capital and maintenance expenditure at the loss-making Tiwai Pt aluminum smelter near Bluff has been halted in its tracks by its Australian owner, mining giant Rio Tinto.
Where does Rio Tinto get its power from?
Tiwai uses 12 percent of the country’s power and pays about 10 percent of New Zealand’s transmission costs. But Rio Tinto argues its electricity comes via a dedicated 150-kilometre transmission line from Manapouri hydro station, which is just 3 percent of the transmission network.