fbpx
Print this page
Wednesday, 20 June 2018 11:55

Better payout next year – Westland

Written by  Nigel Malthus
Pete Morrison. Pete Morrison.

Westland Milk Products is promising better things for the 2018-19 season, while conceding that this season’s payout will be disappointing.

Westland, New Zealand’s second-biggest dairy co-operative, predicts its payout to shareholder suppliers will be in the range $6.75 to $7.20/kgMS for 2018-19.

The figure is in line with payout predictions of $7.00 from Fonterra and Synlait.

WMP chairman Pete Morrison says the shareholders will welcome the prediction; they are anticipating a payout in the range of $6.10 to $6.30 for 2017-18. 

“This (17/18 payout) is a disappointing result – as it is not as competitive as we had originally told shareholders we would be,” Morrison said, “but a number of one-off factors contributed to this.”

They included the impact of former-tropical cyclone Fehi, estimated to have cost at least 10c/kgMS. Lyttelton Port strikes added to the cyclone’s disruption and meant Westland incurred higher freight costs. And quality issues, while now improved, were more extensive than at first thought and took longer than expected to resolve.

“We are now seeing improved sales and a better sales outlook; there is a much improved performance by our infant and toddler nutrition (ITN) and UHT plants; and consumer butter has been, and we believe will continue to be, a star performer.”

Westland’s decision to enter the NZ retail consumer butter market with its Westgold brand has also paid off, Morrison said. 

He expects butter to continue to be a good export earner. 

“We see robust demand for butter in all sectors growing further in the coming year, with grass-fed growth showing even further potential. Westland is in a great position to take advantage of the growing demand for grass-fed dairy products.” 

To make butter, Westland had to find markets for its skim milk powder and that is also looking promising, he said. 

More like this

Wrong again!

OPINION: Remember when the once-crumbling Westland Milk Products company was bought out by Chinese company Yili in 2019 and the howls of outrage and derision from current Minister of Agriculture and West Coast MP Damien O'Connor describing it as a 'sad day' for the West Coast?

Featured

Sheep drench resistance costly

Analysis by Dunedin-based Techion New Zealand shows the cost of undetected drench resistance in sheep has exploded to an estimated $98 million a year.

Dairy sheep and goat turmoil

Dairy sheep and goat farmers are being told to reduce milk supply as processors face a slump in global demand for their products.

Hurry up and slow down!

OPINION: We have good friends from way back who had lived in one of our major cities for many years.

National

Knowing bugs means fewer drugs

A mastitis management company claims to deliver the fastest and most accurate mastitis testing available at scale for New Zealand…

Machinery & Products

AGTEK and ARGO part ways

After 12 years of representing the Landini and McCormick brands in New Zealand, Bay of Plenty-based AGTEK and the brands’…

100 years of Farmall Tractors

Returning after an enforced break, the Wheat and Wheels Rally will take place on the Lauriston -Barhill Road, North-East of…

JD unveils its latest beast

John Deere has unveiled its most powerful tractor ever, with the launch of the all new 9RX Series Tractor line-up…

Biggest Quadtrac coming to NZ!

In the biggest announcement that Case IH Australia/New Zealand has made around its tractor range, its biggest tractor is about…