Commissioning the new $214 million, Chinese-owned milk processing plant at Glenavy will start in July and production is due to begin mid-September.
The commissioning programme will mark the final stage of the 14-month construction programme for the Oceania Dairy Company, owned by Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group.
''We anticipate the factory taking its first supplies of milk from our suppliers in late July,'' Oceania chief executive Aidan Johnstone said. The first four to six weeks of supply would be used to conduct a range of performance tests that formed an integral part of the factory's commissioning.
''We are working towards a final handover of the factory from construction to production by the middle of September,'' he said.
A total of 46 suppliers have signed contracts with Oceania for the supply of 160 million litres in the next season. At full capacity, the Glenavy processing plant will be capable of processing 300 million litres of milk a year, generating 47,000 tonnes of milk powder.
At full production, it would employ about 70 fulltime staff.
The various components of the overall project remained on schedule to deliver the projected hand-over.
All of the main boiler components for the factory were now in New Zealand and erection of the furnace panels had started.
The 11kV and 33kV electricity supply works being undertaken by Alpine Energy were on schedule and installation of transformers was under way.
