Fonterra To Invest $11.5m In Dairy Manufacturing Sites In Tasmania
Published:19-January-2010
By Staff Reporter
Fonterra, a multinational dairy company, has said that it will implement an $11.5m capital investment program to increase cheese and whey powder processing capacity at its dairy manufacturing sites in northern Tasmania.
The company's $11.5m capital investment in the Tasmanian industry will involve several elements including increasing processing capacity at Wynyard to supply Tasmanian cheese to customers on mainland Australia and in overseas markets such as Japan; purchasing new processing equipment at Wynyard to improve the quality of cheese produced at the site; upgrading a drier at Spreyton to handle increased whey volumes; commissioning a gas-based cogeneration plant at the Wynyard site to improve reliability of energy supply; and expanding facilities for milk collection trucks at the Wynyard site to support increased milk volumes.
Bruce Donnison, managing director of Ingredients Australia, said: “Fonterra already processes two-thirds of the milk produced in Tasmania. As a result of this investment we will be able to accept more milk from next season and Tasmanian dairy farmers can have confidence in the future of their industry.”
The company said, after the capital program is complete, it will be able to collect an additional 200,000 litres of raw milk every day and the its production will increase by 4,000 tonnes of dairy products per annum.
Mr Donnison added, “This investment will unlock processing bottlenecks at Fonterra’s sites in the short-term, while creating a foundation for a significant increase in processing capacity for Tasmania in the longerterm. Today’s announcement represents a mix of new initiatives and some previously announced projects that were put on hold in 2009 due to the global financial crisis.
“We believe there is a bright future for dairy in Tasmania and this investment highlights Fonterra’s unique position as the leading dairy processor operating in the state.”
