The government is providing up to $60 million in financial support to Golden Bay Cement to ensure its Northland operations can continue.The move was announced in a release to the NZX on Monday morning by Golden Bay Cement's owner, Fletcher Building.Fletcher Building said the support reflects a specific, one-time response to an exceptional set of circumstances.The release states the government has granted Golden Bay Cement up to $60m, but does not go into detail about the terms of the support or the form it will take.Fletcher Building said the agreement recognises the strategic importance of domestic cement manufacturing to New Zealand's infrastructure supply chain and national resilience, and addresses the carbon cost disadvantage Golden Bay Cement faces relative to imported cement.Golden Bay Cement's operations in Northland are the country's only domestic cement manufacturing facility, supplying about 60 percent of the cement used in New Zealand.The financial support follows an independent assessment, which Fletcher Building said confirmed that without support, rising costs, including carbon costs, would force the plant to close and result in a shift to an import-only model from 2030.Earlier this month, the Employers and Manufacturers Association issued a pre-election policy wish list calling on the government to consider financial incentives for industries deemed critical to the country's economic future.Fletcher Building chief executive and managing director Andrew Reding said: "Without government support, increasing costs, including carbon emission costs that our competitors importing cement from overseas do not currently incur at the same level, would likely have required us to close the plant and move to an import-only model from 2030."Domestic cement production matters for New Zealand's resilience as much as for its economics."As part of the announcement, Golden Bay Cement has agreed to invest $150m through to 2040 in continued operations, optimisation, resilience and decarbonisation initiatives at its Northland plant.The investment will be phased over time and remains subject to Fletcher Building's normal capital governance and approval processes, with the specific programme to be agreed with the government.Fletcher Building said Golden Bay Cement directly employs more than 150 people and supports a further 450 jobs across the Whangārei district, underpinning the country's ability to build homes, hospitals, roads and infrastructure with locally sourced materials.