Smelter still championed

Press, 2 August 1983, Page 16

Smelter still championed

PA Dunedin The Minister of Energy, Mr Birch, is still convinced that the proposed Aramoana aluminium smelter should go ahead if a project can be put together when the partners consult with the Government in November. Mr Birch said in an interview he believed the smelter represented the best single big investment available to New Zealand. He did not reject a suggestion from the Deputy Mayor of Dunedin, Mr Bill Christie, that the Government should put equity capital into the project if the New Zealand partner was unable to raise sufficient

money. Mr Birch said there were only about six companies in the world that could invest in the smelter and provide the technology, and the Government had been in touch with all. Pechiney, of France, was probably the only one that it was possible to get a deal with, Mr Birch said. Mr Birch said it would be “enormously difficult” to put together a new smelter deal. “I’m a realist, and some of the driving forces have tended to subside,” he said. “Fletcher Challenge’s investment in the Canadian firm of Crown Zellerbach means that the company

does not have the ability to devote the resources to the smelter to the same degree as earlier,” he said.

“But they are still there, they are still interested. I think they will need other partners now,” he said.

Pechiney was not in such a good position as it was, because fundamental changes had taken place in the company’s management, he said. “On the other hand, the aluminium market looks much better. I’ve never had any doubt that it would improve,” Mr Birch said. He said he had never changed his view that the

Aramoana project should proceed if at all possible, because it was the best single investment that could be done for Otago, and probably the best single investment for New Zealand.

“But it’s not possible for me to make the decision and I know it’s going to be a lot harder now than it was last year.” The Minister of Science, Dr Shearer, said recently the money that would have been spent on the smelter would be better directed to other developments.

Dr Shearer said the smelter was no longer part of the Government’s growth strategy. Earlier report, page 5