Rio Tinto’s subsidiary Pacific Aluminium (New Zealand) Ltd has reported financial results relating to its interest in New Zealand’s Aluminium Smelter Ltd (NZAS), showing an underlying net loB of NZ$46m for 2019. In 2018, the smelter achieved an underlying net profit of NZ$22m. The loB in 2019 is a result of consistently lower and volatile aluminium prices, coupled with uncompetitive energy prices. In 2019 aluminium prices were 15% lower than the previous year, averaging USD1,791/t. While the New Zealand dollar was also lower, this was not enough to offset lower metal prices. "This result underscores why Rio Tinto is conducting a strategic review of our operation here at Tiwai,” said NZAS CEO Stew Hamilton. "No matter how hard or efficiently the team here works, we can’t consistently offset the high price of power and transmiBion charges we face. This means we swing from delivering small profits to loBes for our owners, making our financial viability uncertain.”
展开▼
