Production rolling at Fonterra's $230m plant

The Pahiatua plant's capacity gains give Fonterra greater agility in adapting to consumer demand. Photo / NZME.

Fonterra's new $230 million high-efficiency milk powder plant at its Pahiatua site has processed its first milk.

Whole milk powder from the new plant will soon head to customers in more than 20 markets worldwide including South America, the Middle East and Southeast Asia.

Fonterra managing director of global operations Robert Spurway said the new dryer was part of the co-operative's strategy to drive greater efficiency and value in its product mix.

"The additional capacity it brings will help to relieve pressure on processing and give us more choices in the products we make during the peak of the season," Spurway said.

"This means we can be more agile in meeting product trends and changes in customer demand - turning more milk into products that will bring the greatest returns for our farmers."

The new dryer, the third on-site, has the capacity to process an additional 2.4 million litres of milk each day.

The building that houses the new plant is also unique among New Zealand dairy plants, and is the first to implement base isolation technology which would see it withstand a one-in-2500-year earthquake.

The plant is the first in New Zealand to reuse its own condensate, reducing the amount of water needed to process each litre of milk. The new dryer is expected to be running at full capacity by early October.