Jobs go as Fonterra shifts operation overseas

Up to 30 people will be offered replacement jobs or redundancy as Fonterra moves part of its Northland operation overseas.

The dairy giant is transferring a sugar-milk powder blending operation from the Maungaturoto dairy factory to Singapore.

The plant has 160 staff and up to 30 will be affected.

A handful of those are likely to take voluntary redundancy and the company is looking to place the rest in jobs on the Maungaturoto site or to other dairy factories, including Kauri.

The transfer was expected to save Fonterra up to $2 million annually. It will start next month and take up to five months to complete, the company's general manager of New Zealand manufacturing, Brent Taylor, said.

"Redeployment is our first option for these staff," Mr Taylor said.

He said the Maungaturoto blending plant would continue to produce a protein-milk powder blend accounting for about 25 per cent of its present production.

Dairy Workers Union northern field officer Mark Apiata-Wade said the union and factory staff were bitterly disappointed the blending operation was moving.

But Fonterra had "fronted up with all the costs" and it was understood labour costs in Northland were not behind the change.

Fonterra ships sugar from Queensland to Auckland for refining then sends it to Maungaturoto for processing into a 70 per cent sugar, 30 per cent milk powder blend. About 25,000 tonnes of the blended product is sold annually in Japan, where it is used in beverages and for baking.

- NORTHERN ADVOCATE (WHANGAREI)