Fonterra to open $235m milk powder plant

The Fonterra Board has approved a $235 million high-efficiency milk powder plant, which will enable the co-operative to process an additional 2.4 million litres of milk each day. The plant will be built at Fonterra’s Pahiatua site on New Zealand’s lower North Island.

The co-operative has continued to invest in milk powder driers to meet the growing global demand for dairy nutrition, according to Robert Spurway, Fonterra’s Director of NZ Operations.

“This new drier in Pahiatua will help drive greater efficiencies across our manufacturing footprint,” Spurway said.

“Last season we set a new record for the most milk collected in one day and overall milk production has been increasing by roughly 3% each year. This drier will help us process the extra milk in a way that delivers the most value to our farmers.”

The new drier will use the latest energy-efficient processing technology and will be the first in the country to re-use its own condensate. Its wastewater will be treated and used for irrigation.

The new facility will create 45 full-time jobs, as well as additional jobs during the construction phase.

Preliminary earthworks have begun at the site; construction of the drier and associated infrastructure will begin in mid-December. The first milk powder from the new drier is expected to roll off the site by September 2015.

The company recently opened the world’s largest milk powder drier at its newly completed Darfield site in Canterbury.