Step towards fertiliser works

Press, 16 August 1976, Page 2

Step towards fertiliser works

A tender has been accepted Ifor the erection of the first | :of the main buildings for a! ' new fertiliser works at Rich-; jimond, near Nelson. This was: by the marketing! ■■manager of Kempthornej Prosser and Company, Ltd! ■ :(Mr 1. F. McFarlane). , I The building, a store of 1 46.000 sq. ft, costing about t ($333,000, will’ initially be . used as a store for superphosphate and imported fertilisers before it is eventually | used to hold rock phosphate ifor the new works. i Even before it is used as ipart of a fertiliser works, it jis expected to ease the pressure on supplies from the I Hornby works in Christchurch, and Mr McFarlane ;said that the development at j I Nelson would consequently hbe welcomed by farmers in the West Coast, ■ and Marlborough as well as i jin Nelson. -| The store will be longer fjthan a football field, measuring 380 ft by 120 ft, and with yithe installation later of over■jhead conveyor gear wilt have dja capacity of 30,000 tonnes. e |Erection will begin shortly. p Mr McFarlane said that jjithe new store was expected Jto ease the supply position jI in the autumn of next year, \-|when the demand over three jjmonths usually was equivalent to half the annual use n'jof fertiliser. d; It would enable more fers itiliser to be moved from B iHomby during slack periods, 8 ready for use in the peak de--1 mand seasons. Manufacture at Hornby could be main- :. tained at the full rate ’ throughout the year, withg out the despatch, storage, j and transport bottlenecks 0 that had occurred during . the periods of peak demand, j This had been a serious probv lent in recent years, with the s normal peak autumn demand being accentuated by farmers' r anticipating subsidy changes e in the .Budget each June. Planning of the expansion of the facilities at Nelson s had been frustrated in the last year by uncertainty “ about future demand and Government action on sub- ’ sidies. However, now that j the subsidy and the longerterm future in the agricultural sector seemed to have 5 stabilised, further develop- „ ment of fertiliser facilties could proceed. ._ The first major shipment of □ imported fertiliser to use the! new store would probably! a arrive through the port of h Nelson next February, he! said. , '