Milk complex on track for August start

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Stage one of Fonterra's $500 million milk processing site at Darfield is on track for an August start.

The farmer co-operative is developing its 650-hectare site just outside the rural township in Canterbury into a $200m stage-one complex of a 15.5-tonnes-an hour dryer and facilities and $300m stage-two 30t/hr dryer, the world's largest, extra warehouse space and a railway connection.

In his first visit to Darfield, chief executive Theo Spierings got a first-hand look at its progress.

He said the site would play an important part in Fonterra's strategy.

"Darfield will be one of our most efficient powder plants, in the heart of one of the fastest-growing dairying regions in New Zealand.

The efficiency, capacity and flexibility of Darfield will help drive further performance improvements for our New Zealand milk business."

Spierings said the large project was on schedule for the first milk to be officially processed.

"It's down to the final push now and we currently have more than 600 people on site as part of the different construction teams. Our operations teams are also working hard to get everything in place before first milk."

When ready to go, the site will produce instant and regular wholemilk powder for Asia and the Middle East, with 25-kilogram bags packed onto pallets in containers and delivered to Lyttelton port.

Fonterra Canterbury operations manager Richard Gray said steam, electricity, compressed air and chilled water services were now on line.

Testing had started on some of the new technology in manufacturing and in the supply chain, he said.

"The environment has been top of mind since day one, and a good example of this is that both the dryer and boiler are baghouse-protected.

"That means all exhausts are filtered, and helps ensure we maintain our community's high air quality."

The water used inside the plant is treated to remove protein and sediment before being used to irrigate the surrounding land, which will be farmed and used to grow hay and silage.

The two-stage development will process milk from a 50-kilometre radius from the site and reduce the distance milk tankers need to travel.

Dryer one will allow the site to process about 2.2 million litres of milk a day to help the co-operative meet dairying growth in Canterbury. The second dryer will raise the output by an extra 4.4 million litres a day and be ready to take peak milk in October 2013.

- © Fairfax NZ News