The New Zealand government is putting NZD60 million ($50 million) into Fletcher Building's Golden Bay Cement plant near Portland. Without the funding, the company said rising carbon costs would force the plant to close by 2030 and switch to imported cement. The plant supplies nearly 60% of the cement used in New Zealand, and domestic production has a materially lower carbon footprint than imports that avoid local carbon pricing. Fletcher plans to use the money for modernization and switching to alternative fuels to cut fossil fuel use. The deal keeps the plant operating until at least 2040. It is a direct example of government subsidy used to preserve domestic low-carbon industrial capacity rather than let carbon pricing push production offshore where emissions are not priced.
