Fonterra Announces $11.5 Million Investment in Tasmania

“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,” said Mr Donnison

20 Jan 2010 --- Fonterra has announced it will be implementing an $11.5 million capital investment program to increase cheese and whey powder processing capacity at its dairy manufacturing sites in northern Tasmania.

“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,” said Bruce Donnison, Managing Director Ingredients Australia.

Fonterra’s $11.5 million capital investment in the Tasmanian industry will involve several elements:
• 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.
• Expanding facilities for milk collection trucks at the Wynyard site to support increased milk volumes.

After the capital program is complete Fonterra will be able to collect an additional 200,000 litres of raw milk every day and the company’s production will increase by 4,000 tonnes of dairy products per annum.

“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,” said Mr Donnison

“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,” said Mr Donnison.