Top dairy exporter Fonterra struggling amid global dairy glut

Washington

IN THE shadow of a snow-dusted volcano on New Zealand's North Island, a sprawling expanse of stainless steel vats, chimneys and giant warehouses stands as a totem of the tiny nation's dominance in the global dairy trade.

The Whareroa factory was until recently the largest of its kind, churning out enough milk powder, cheese and cream to fill more than three Olympic-sized swimming pools a week. The plant has helped make owner Fonterra Cooperative Group the world's top dairy exporter and its farmer-suppliers among the greatest beneficiaries of China's emerging thirst for milk.

Now, faced with reduced Chinese demand that's eroded milk prices and helped drag 80 per cent of New Zealand's dairy far…