Fonterra appoints new CFO
Fonterra has appointed a new chief financial officer, seven months after its last CFO’s shock resignation.
The biggest silo ever made in a New Zealand workshop and transported in one piece rolled out of the Mercer Stainless manufacturing plant in Christchurch early this morning.
The 500,000-litre silo, which weighs 28 tonnes empty, was transported 48kms in a four-hour trip to Fonterra's new dryer factory at Darfield, west of Christchurch.
Ross Coppard, branch manager of the Mercer Christchurch operation, says this giant silo is one of 22 of varying sizes being built for Fonterra's site, an order worth several million dollars to the company.
"We started work on the first of the silos back in September 2010 and are now getting to the end of the order, which has been a substantial one for the company. South Island dairy is very buoyant at present and as the largest stainless steel fabricator in the region we are optimistic about the future in this sector," he says.
The silo, which stands 22m tall with a diameter of 5.8m, was too large to load on to a truck in the factory. It had to be taken out by crane for loading on to the truck out in the yard.
"Only one transporter in the South Island can carry this load. It has a special trailer that extends in length and also extends in width, allowing the silo to get very close to the road while also being able to pass under power lines."
Mercer planned to leave the factory before 3am today to be off the road by 6.30am.
Once at the site, it will take Mercer Stainless a day to erect the silo and three more days to complete assembly. The silo will be used to collect the raw milk from tankers before it goes into the factory for processing.
OPINION: The recent Federated Farmers / Rabobank 2024 Farming Salaries Report revealed strong growth in farm salaries over the past two years.
The low unemployment environment is one of the key factors driving on-farm salaries higher over the past 24 months, says Rabobank general manager for country banking Bruce Weir.
Fonterra has appointed a new chief financial officer, seven months after its last CFO’s shock resignation.
A seminar on rural dispute resolution has been organised at Lincoln University, Christchurch this month.
The legacy of Dr Peter Snow continues to inspire as the recipients of the 2023 and 2024 Peter Snow Memorial Awards were announced at the recent National Rural Health Conference.
One of Fonterra’s global customers, Mars is launching an ambitious sustainable dairy plan to work with dairy farmers and cut emissions by 50%.