FONTERRA 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.
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Fonterra already processes two-thirds of the milk produced in Tasmania, but managing director ingredients in Australia, Bruce Donnison, the investment will mean the dairy giant is able to accept more milk from next season.
Fonterra’s $11.5m capital investment in the Tasmanian industry will involve:
• 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.
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 4000t 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," Mr Donnison said.