Thursday, 19 January 2012 10:10

New dairy shipment record

Written by 

Fonterra has broken its record for the highest export month with 246,000 tonnes of dairy products loaded on ships during December. The shipments boosted New Zealand's economy by $1.3 billion for the month.

In March 2011 Fonterra shipped 229,000 tonnes of product, but continued growth in global demand for dairy products combined with record milk production early on in the current dairy season has led to another spike.

In December, Fonterra closed the door on an export container every 2.7 minutes – 546 containers a day. Fonterra's exports account for more than a quarter of all New Zealand exports.

Fonterra trade & operations managing director Gary Romano says a good autumn and a mild winter created optimal grass growing conditions ahead of the 2011-12 dairy season.

"This helped create a wave of milk up about 10 per cent on a daily basis during the peak flow in late September through to November.

"While conditions were good overall, farmers did face extreme challenges including a near nationwide dumping of spring snow and flooding in some regions.

"Our farmers have coped tremendously, not just with bad weather but also the record milk flow which peaked at more than 80 million litres a day," he says.

Fonterra teams have gone the extra mile to manage the huge amount of milk this season and get value out of every drop of milk.

Romano says a huge effort has gone in from the moment the milk is collected, to processing, packing, storing and shipping.

Demand for high quality dairy products is still looking strong with South East Asia, China, the Middle East and North Africa driving the growth in exports.

"Dairy is becoming increasingly important in these markets as people grow wealthier and want access to more nutritious foods," says Romano.

More like this

Fonterra trims board size

Fonterra’s board has been reduced to nine - comprising six farmer-elected and three appointed directors.

Returns 'not good enough'

Fonterra leaders are making their case for offloading the co-operative's $3 billion consumer business, noting that its return on capital has been nowhere near respectable.

Record milk price!

A record farmgate milk price for Fonterra shareholders is all but confirmed for this season.

Chinese strategy

OPINION: Fonterra may have sold its dairy farms in China but the appetite for collaboration with the country remains strong.

Featured

Massey Research Field Day attracts huge interest

More than 200 people turned out on Thursday, November 21 to see what progress has been made on one of NZ's biggest and most comprehensive agriculture research programmes on regenerative agriculture.

Expo set to wow again

Stellar speakers, top-notch trade sites, innovation, technology and connections are all on offer at the 2025 East Coast Farming Expo being once again hosted in Wairoa in February.

A year of global challenges

As a guest of the Italian Trade Association, Rural News Group Machinery Editor Mark Daniel took the opportunity to make an early November dash to Bologna to the 46th EIMA exhibition.

National

OSPRI's costly software upgrade

Animal disease management agency OSPRI has announced sweeping governance changes as it seeks to recover from the expensive failure of…

Machinery & Products

BA Pumps expand

Cambridge based BA Pumps & Sprayers, specialists in New Zealand-made spraying equipment, has acquired Tokoroa Engineering’s product range, including the…

Entries open for innovation award

Fieldays and its renowned Innovation Awards are celebrating their 57th year, marking a longstanding tradition in the agricultural calendar, with…

» Latest Print Issues Online

Milking It

Chinese strategy

OPINION: Fonterra may have sold its dairy farms in China but the appetite for collaboration with the country remains strong.

Not fair

OPINION: The Listener's latest piece on winter grazing among Southland dairy farmers leaves much to be desired.

» Connect with Dairy News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter