Potline 'will benefit N.Z.’

Press, 11 August 1980, Page 4

Potline ' will benefit N.Z.’

Construction, of a third potline at the ■ Tiwai Point aluminium smelter- at Bluff should give a positive net economic benefit to New Zealand, according to a report prepared by the contract research unit of the Jns t i t u t e of Economic Research. The researchers, Messrs T. K. McDonald and C. . J. Ashley-Jones, arrived at their conclusion after analysing the costs and. benefits over ' a projected > 30-year span. • ■’//,/ They report in a summary of their findings that under

most circumstances the project is not only expected to earn the recommended 10 per cent return on the national resources invested in it, but that generally it will exceed this criterion by “a significant margin.” Comajco, Ltd, ’ the multinational company which recently signed an agreement with the Government for approval of the ' third potline, engaged the research unit as a consultant. The aim of the study was to estimate how much New Zealand would benefit economically from the expansion. The Tiwai Point smelter is l

run by New Zealand Aluminium Smelters, Ltd, on behalf of the development consortium members, Comalco, Ltd, Sumitomo Aluminium Smelting Company, Ltd, and. Showa Aluminium Industries. Present capacity is 150,000 tonnes of primary aluminium, but the ;third potline will raise this more than 75,000 tonnes a year. , The expansion will cost about $l5O million, 75 per cent of which will be spent in New Zealand. Direct smelter employment will rise about ,350, says the report summary.