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Winstone Pulp International's chief executive said energy costs had risen from 15 percent of total production to in excess of 40 percent. File picture. Photo: 123RF Major energy users are grappling with extremely high power prices and one timber company has stopped operating to consider if it can keep going. Since September 2021, wholesale prices have risen from around $100 per megawatt hour (MWh) to an average of around $700 per MWh this week. Winstone Pulp International (WPI) has paused work for 14 days at its two operational sites, Tangiwai Sawmill and Karioi Pulpmill. Chief executive Mike Ryan said the company was thinking about its future now that energy costs had risen from 15 percent of total production to in excess of 40 percent. He said the volatile power market in New Zealand ...

No single strategy holds all the answers to the country's infrastructure woes, says Bell Gully. Photo: 123rf.com he true cost of critical infrastructure must be seen in a new light, in order to address a deficit of more than $200 billion, says legal firm Bell Gully. A new report by the law firm says there is an opportunity to ensure funding models apply the true cost of infrastructure to those who use and benefit from it. "There's no free lunch when it comes to infrastructure," Bell Gully infrastructure partner Angela Harford said. "I think we need people to be onboard with having to directly put their hand in their pocket." She said decision-makers needed to know the voting public was willing to pay for improved infrastructure. The report highlighted a number of ways to use pricing sig...

The Queen Street store will remain open by downsizing its operations to one floor in the central city. Photo: Supplied / Smith and Caughey's Auckland retailer Smith and Caughey's has confirmed it will downsize, rather than closing the doors for good. The 144-year-old department store announced in May that it would permanently shut in 2025. But last week, it said another option for the future of the business had been identified, and that was to scale back. On Tuesday, the retailer confirmed the plan which would save about 100 jobs, while another 100 people would still face redundancy. The Queen Street store will remain open by downsizing its operations to one floor in the central city, while the Newmarket store will still close, earlier than anticipated, at the end of next month. The com...

Photo: Ziming Li Nearly 10,000 Woolworths supermarket workers have voted for initial strike action over low wage offers and unsafe staffing levels. FIRST Union said the vote followed nine days of bargaining with the employer who was ruling out a living wage and had no desire to address understaffing issues. However, Woolworths insisted it had brought a strong offer to the table in its discussions with the union. FIRST Union national organiser for retail food Ross Lampert said 95 percent of members voted in favour of striking, with a smaller group of members across 10 key Woolworths stores nationwide also voting for an additional action. He said the issues at stake were a living wage, safer staffing levels, and increased penalty rates for night and weekend work, which were common in other...

Photo: RNZ / Nathan Mckinnon Three of the country's top banks have cut mortgage rates again ahead of the Reserve Bank's meeting next week. Wholesale interest rates have fallen in recent weeks in anticipation of the central bank loosening monetary policy. BNZ has dropped almost all of its short term fixed housing rates. Longer term rates between 3 and 5 years saw the biggest drop of 40 basis points to 5.99 percent. Short term rates from six months to two years have fallen by between 6 and 16 basis points, while longer term deposit rates are well below 6 percent. Meanwhile, ASB has lowered its fixed home rates with longer term rates all below 6 percent and the popular two year rate by 24 basis points to 6.25 percent. Its term deposits between 9 months and 5 years have dropped by up to 30 b...