Penrice Soda has today announced it is closing Australia’s only soda ash production plant resulting in 60 job losses in Adelaide.
“This is terrible news for South Australia and another blow to our local manufacturing industry,” Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for the Environment Simon Birmingham said today.
“Penrice Soda dates back almost 80 years and to lose this capacity is sad news for South Australia.
“Penrice has specifically highlighted the carbon tax and the increased costs it has imposed as a direct cause of this closure.
“Imposing a massive new tax on struggling trade-exposed industries was always going to result in jobs losses and plant closures.
“The carbon tax is proving to be a dead weight around the neck of local manufacturers who are already struggling with a high Australian dollar, high production costs and cheap imports.”