News & Opinions Home

Rural
Economy
Property
Small Business
Trade News
Company News
Forex News
Industry
Local Providers
Regional

Market Place

Business > News & Opinions > NZPA >

NZPA

Solid Energy faces stakeholders at annual meeting

Wednesday October 14, 08:18 PM

Print This Story RSS

State-owned Solid Energy faced questions about its environment performance and commitment to domestic customers at a public meeting in Wellington today.

But chief executive Don Elder was happy there were no cream pies thrown at him this year, saying the company had been more pro-active about security at its second "stakeholder" meeting, which was attended by state-owned enterprises minister Simon Power.

The coal miner played a video, and chairman John Palmer and Dr Elder gave lengthy presentations before opening the meeting, which had no official business, to questions.

Glenys Perkins of Birchfield Coal Mines, who is also a coal broker, asked if the company could guarantee that high graded coal, particularly from the Spring Creek mine, would continue to be available to the domestic market.

"Perhaps Don could give that guarantee," she said.

Dr Elder said the question was challenging because high prices driven by export markets made underground mines like Spring Creek viable.

"You can see I'm ducking the question, but you can see why. Our top priority has to be to keep our mines economic."

Ms Perkins said later that she was happy with the answer and she was hopeful that investment in research could make more affordable lower grade coal suitable for use by large domestic customers, which included manufacturers.

Gerard Morris, formerly of Coal Magazine, said he was appalled at the state of the Mangatini falls near the Stockton Mine.

"The spin you have adopted today. You should go and have a look," he said.

Dr Elder said improvements had been made in the treatment of water at Stockton.

"I appreciate you reminding us that the job is not finished yet," he said.

When questioned about plans for developing vast lignite reserves the company stressed plans were at the project stage and that CO2 admissions had to be addressed.

The ability to capture CO2 and store it underground was under rapid development worldwide, but it was not yet "widely commercial".

"Is it likely to be affordable, and again at a preliminary stage, yes it is, but off course that depends on the product price," Dr Elder said.

Solid Energy reported a record $110.8 million profit in the year to June 30, but the state-owned enterprise said it was disappointed because it was below half of forecast due to the economic downturn.

The company paid $34.375m to the Government on October 31 last year, and $25.5m on March 31. It will pay $24m on September 30.

Mr Palmer said it was unlikely in the current year that dividends will be provided at the same levels.

The profit was up from $34.37m last year.

It was a difficult year with hard coking coal prices falling from $US300 ($NZ414.93) a tonne to $US100 a tonne as the global economy slowed.

"Customers began to defer export shipments and seek substantial price reductions," Mr Palmer said.

Source:

Print This Story RSS

Next Article: NZ dollar rises as US dollar eases
Previous article: Genesis looks at ways to keep older Huntly units open

Search:
Advertise with us | Privacy Policy | Terms of Service | Help
Copyright © 2009 Yahoo! All rights reserved.
Yahoo!Xtra: A Yahoo!7/Telecom New Zealand Company.