Big dry hits smelter production

Big dry hits smelter production
March 13 (BusinessDesk) - Low rainfall in southern hydro catchments has forced the Bluff aluminium smelter to cut back consumption and output by 5 percent, on top of cuts already in place because of low world aluminium prices. New Zealand Aluminium Smelters announced it was reducing its electricity load to 540 Megawatts from 572 MW due to "extremely low hydro lake levels". The decision is expected to reduce production capacity at the smelter by approximately 400 tonnes per week, or 5 per cent of total production. “NZAS is working closely wit...