Smelter and Meridian dismiss talk of breakdown on power contracts

Sun, 07 Oct 2012

By Pattrick Smellie Oct 7 (BusinessDesk) - Both parties to negotiations over electricity prices for the Rio Tinto-owned aluminium smelter near Bluff say there is no truth to reports that state-owned electricity producer Meridian Energy has abandoned the talks. "We haven't walked away from anything," said Meridian spokeswoman Claire Shaw in response to media reports and statements from trade unions urging government intervention to save the smelter and bring down the high value of the New Zealand dollar, which is hurting exporters. The local...

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