Blog

Workers heading into the Winstone Pulp International meeting after the closure of two of its mills. Photo: RNZ / Alexa Cook A community leader says the closure of two Central North Island mills will be "catastrophic" for local towns. Hundreds of people are set to lose their jobs after one of the Central North Island's biggest employers announced it will close down two of its mills - for good. In recent weeks, Winstone Pulp International had been meeting with energy company Mercury and government ministers to find a way to keep the Karioi and Tangiwai mills open. But the company made the call on Tuesday afternoon to close its two mills, blaming unsustainable spot energy prices. Mercury previously denied it was responsible for the closures, saying the prices were similar to those charged ...

Photo: 123rf Struggling to find your favourite chilled orange juice? You're not the only one. A combination of lower yields on the East Coast due to Cyclone Gabrielle damage and smaller yields from Brazil, the world's largest orange grower, have left supermarket chiller shelves bare of orange juice. Brazilian orchards have been hit by drought and disease and yields are down by at least a third. In July, industry group Citrus New Zealand said it didn't anticipate New Zealand's orange juice supplies would be impacted by the shortage of oranges from Brazil. But throughout August, supermarket chillers were left empty as local producers run dry of OJ. Distributor Better Drinks Company said its Charlie's brand orange juice has been affected by the global shortage, prompting inquiries from the ...

Local Government Funding Agency's long term rating is steady despite downgrades to councils including Wellington and Hamilton City. Photo: Supplied/ Wellington City Council Falling credit ratings for councils has had no impact on the Local Government Funding Agency's capacity to borrow or lend money, the agency said. S&P Global Ratings has confirmed the agency's ratings are stable because of its dominant market position as a source of financing for councils. It kept the fund's long-term ratings at AA+ and raised its standalone credit profile, which excludes any support from central government, from AA- to AA+. But S&P has downgraded some councils, including Wellington and Hamilton City councils, because of weak financial positions and rising debt. LGFA is a 'super borrower', rai...

Workers heading into the Winstone Pulp International meeting after the closure of two of its mills. Photo: RNZ / Alexa Cook Hundreds are set to lose their jobs after one of the central North Island's biggest employers made the call to shut two of its mills. Winstone Pulp International chief executive Mike Ryan has confirmed the company will shut down because there were no options available to stay open. In a statement he blamed high wholesale power prices and low market prices for forestry products. "This was not a decision taken lightly. We gave due consideration to the feedback and alternatives put forward by staff and unions... "There were a number of good ideas put forward that would make incremental improvements to our operations, but not enough to offset the dual impacts of intern...

Photo: 123RF Some small businesses are limiting their sales to avoid having the deal with GST, one accounting platform says - but a GST expert warns that any threshold change could lower it, rather than increase it. When a business or sole trader has turnover of $60,000 a year, it is required to register for GST. That means it needs to apply the 15 percent tax to sales and return the GST to Inland Revenue. A recent survey by Hnry showed that 36 percent of respondents purposely kept their turnover below $60,000 to avoid it. More than 40 percent said they "definitely or probably" lost business when they increased prices by 15 percent. Wellington personal trainer Carl Rein had told Hnry he could not absorb GST or pass it on to clients. "Increasing my rates by that much would impact my earni...

Photo: RNZ / Dom Thomas A Wellington real estate salesperson who lost about $200,000 on a new build townhouse says a similar situation is being played out around the country. Mike Robbers of Lowe & Co Realty told clients last week that he and partner Socheata had signed a contract for a three-bedroom Wellington investment property which was not yet built in 2020. At the time, ASB was offering a 1.9 percent interest rate for new builds and the expected rent would cover repayments. "The market was booming, our incomes were solid and we expected that by the time it was built, our townhouse would be worth considerably more than what we agreed to pay for it." But by the time the house was built and ready for settlement, almost everything had changed. "Interest rates hadn't just doubled, t...