Fonterra has had no indication as yet when the new UHT plant in Tauranga will be ready to receive milk.


The Maleme Street UHT plant is not ready, despite earlier reports that it is and Fonterra is holding up milk supply.

A Fonterra spokesman says that they could not discuss the terms of the agreement with Chinese businesswoman May Wang.

'It has been said that Fonterra is withholding milk. That is absolutely not the case,” says Fonterra spokesperson Nick Stride.

'The factory is not ready to process the milk. There is no indication when it will be ready.”

When asked whether Fonterra would be happy to supply the milk when the plant was ready he said that Fonterra was obliged to.

He would not disclose how many litres of milk the company has requested, however, it has been reported that Fonterra would be supplying daily deliveries of up to 220,000 litres of milk.

'We have no concerns about that plant (Tauranga). There is more a general concern about what is and what is not required in the legislation.”

Fonterra currently supplies milk to 25 other companies as part of the raw milk regulations, which are under legislation in the Dairy Industry Restructuring Act.