August 10, 2010

China's Natural Dairy plans expansion in Tauranga, NZ

Chinese company Natural Dairy Holdings is reported to be under plans to acquire 16 Crafar dairy farms and to build a NZD20-million (US$14.5-million) dairy processing plant in Tauranga, a city in the North Island of New Zealand.

The company already had a leased land just outside the city, but the construction of the plant, which is claimed to be worth millions of dollars to the region, will be initiated only after it gets an overseas investment approval to acquire the Crafar farms.

"They're talking about shipping off to China something like 150 million packs of UHT milk in their first year of operation," company spokesman Bill Ralston said.

Ralston has posted that the main highlight that has driven the Natural Diary Holdings to grab the deal for the city is that it has an easy access to the Port of Tauranga, which will be beneficial for exporting.