The owner of metal smelters in South Australia and Tasmania has made a pitch for government intervention amid a 'strategic review' of the operations.
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00:00Metal processing company Neostar, which employs more than 1,000 people across two states,
00:09says it's in talks with the federal and state governments given the severity of challenges
00:14it's currently facing.
00:16Neostar currently operates two smelters, a lead smelter in Port Pirie and a zinc smelter
00:23in Hobart.
00:24The chief executive of Neostar Australia's parent company, Trafigura, has reportedly
00:29told an international business summit that operations have become uneconomical and they
00:35are subject to a strategic review.
00:38He also said that Neostar Australia should not be fully in private hands.
00:43A spokesperson for Neostar said government support is essential to improving the competitiveness
00:49of multi-metal smeltering in Australia.
00:53The company's struggles have already led Neostar to announce it would scale back production
00:58by a quarter at the Tasmanian smelter due to what it says is deteriorating market conditions
01:05and financial losses.
01:06Its pitch for government support comes only a month after the South Australian government
01:11tipped the financially troubled Wyella Steelworks into administration to ensure the plant could
01:17continue steel manufacturing.
01:19A South Australian government spokesperson says it holds meetings with Neostar to discuss
01:25its concerns and will continue to do so, but said to publicly disclose the contents of
01:32those conversations would not be appropriate.