Service station chain Z Energy is to shut its chemical
manufacturing plant in Gracefield, Wellington, next March after failing to find
a buyer for the plant.
The Wellington-based fuel company will keep the plant open
until the end of March 2014, after reaching an agreement with a major customer,
it says in a statement. The plant has been on the market for two years, since Z
inherited in the purchase Shell’s downstream transport fuels business.
“Our Gracefield operation has found it increasingly
difficult to remain competitive and, in this context, we cannot see an
improvement in conditions which would make the plant viable,” Lindis
Jones, Z Energy’s commercial general manager, says.
“While this is clearly unwelcome news for the eight
people who work in the plant, the deal we have been able to reach with the
plant’s largest customer does provide nine further months for them to plan and
make alternative arrangements.”
The exit comes as Z’s owners, Infratil and the New Zealand
Superannuation Fund, prepare the company for an initial public offer in the
third quarter this year, reports the National Business Review.
Z will look to redeploy staff at other operations where it
can, and has not made any final decision on what to do with the land or assets,
it says.
