Fonterra plant for Central Canterbury
Fonterra plans to build a milk processing plant in
central
Canterbury to be receiving millk supply in the 2012/13 season.
Its managing
director, trade and operations, Gary Romano, said it would
be among
the largest investments in manufacturing in New Zealand in the past five
years.
“Canterbury is the
fastest-growing dairying region in New Zealand. It is now producing
about 15
percent of the country’s milk for export and growing at a rate of more
than five percent annually”, he said.
It's expected the factory at Darfield, 45km from Christchurch, could create more than 50
permanent
jobs.
The options Fonterra is
considering include a high-efficiency milkpowder
plant
– similar to that at Edendale in
Southland. It would employ the latest technology and is
planned to
have capacity to process up to 2.2 million litres of milk/day –
equivalent
to production from 200 farms in Canterbury.
Other options include a production plant for
high-value nutritional milk powders.
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