Rio Tinto is preparing to sell its aluminium smelter at Tiwai Pt near Bluff in a divestment of 13 mainly aluminium-related businesses.
Rio Tinto will bundle its interests in six Australian and and one New Zealand asset into a new business unit, called Pacific Aluminium, which will be managed, and will report, separately from the Rio Tinto Alcan product group before its sale.
New Zealand Aluminium Smelters (NZAS) has a staff of 750 at the 40-year-old Tiwai smelter and it is a major contributor - more than $500 million - to the local economy.
Its annual revenue is about $1 billion and it is 79.36% owned by Rio Tinto Alcan and 20.64% by Japan's Sumitomo Chemical Company.
It is also New Zealand's largest user of electricity.
Rio Tinto chief executive Tom Albanese said a statement yesterday: "The strength of our balance sheet means that we can choose the most opportune method and timing to divest these assets, which may not occur until the economic climate improves.
"In the meantime, we will continue to run these operations safely and efficiently."
Other proposed Rio asset sales in the programme include plants and smelters in France and Germany, the United States and the United Kingdom.
