Holcim mulls North Otago cement plant

A $100 million cement manufacturing plant is being investigated for Weston, just inland from Oamaru, by Holcim (New Zealand) Ltd, a subsidiary of the Swiss cement giant..

However, Holcim managing director Rex Williams warned today the Weston proposal was only one of four options being explored by the world's second largest cement company to meet a growing demand for cement in New Zealand and worldwide.

The "general approach" to the Weston plant is similar to that proposed by NZ Cement Holdings more than 20 years ago.

The manufacturing plant would be double the production capability of the 1980s proposal, but with 80 staff there would be fewer jobs than the 120 to 140 originally proposed.

Holcim NZ is descended from NZ Cement Holdings, a company which traces its origins back to Otago when, in 1888, it was founded in Dunedin.

It changed its name to Milburn cement then to Holcim in 2002.

Holcim inherited land bought in the 1980s by NZ Cement Holdings for a cement plant, near to limeworks and North Otago farms containing raw materials -- limestone, tuff, sand and coal.

The other site it owns is at Waihao Forks, just south of Waimate, which has coal deposits.

Mr Williams confirmed today it still owned the sites from the 1980s, except for a property on Cape Wanbrow overlooking the Oamaru Harbour where it was proposed to ship the cement.

Those sites were still in the Waitaki district plan as a "cement policy area".

Mr Williams said the biggest problem facing the company with the Weston proposal was distribution -- shipping the cement.

"We need to review very carefully the shipping issues out of Oamaru," he said.

The original 1980s proposal provided for the Oamaru harbour to be revitalised to take bulk cement ships, but the situation with the port had changed dramatically in the last 20 years.

"Ships and payloads have got bigger in the 20 years -- and that is another issue for Oamaru," he said.

Mr Williams said the company would discuss that with the Waitaki District Council in the next few weeks.

The Weston proposal was one of four options being looked at by Holcim.

The other three were at Te Kuiti, expanding its Westport plant or importing cement.

The company was spending "several hundred thousand dollars" drilling at various locations to explore resources at Te Kuiti and Westport.

"We are not drilling at Oamaru because we know it pretty well (from the 1980s exploration) and nothing has changed," he said.

Importing cement was an option because of the proposed carbon tax under the Kyoto agreement.

The company had not ranked any of the three sites at this stage.

However, Mr Williams hoped that by the third quarter of this year Holcim would have selected an option.

That would then be compared with importing cement before a final decision was made.

Mr Williams said if a plant was built at Weston it would be "much larger" than that proposed in the 1980s.

The original proposal was for a plant to produce about 300,000 tonnes a year. Holcim would be looking at a plant producing about 600,000 to 700,000 tonnes a year.

The labour force, with improvements in technology, would be about 80 people.

Asked about the possible cost of a Weston plant, Mr Williams said it would be in excess of $100 million, based on international current costs.

- NZPA