NZ salt exported for medicinal uses

Robin Piggott (left), Dominion Salt's North Island sales and export manager, has played a major role in developing its pharmaceutical salt exports. He is pictured with Shane Dufaur, chief executive. Photo / John Borren

Dominion Salt's Mount Maunganui refinery is key to the company's increasingly successful business exporting pharmaceutical grade salt, says chief executive Shane Dufaur.

The exports make up around 30 to 40 per cent of the company's Mount Maunganui production, he said.

The high grade salt is used in a variety of pharmaceutical products including saline drips, haemodialysis solutions and eye washes, as well as toothpaste and a range of sports and soft drinks.

"In terms of the pharmaceutical grades, less than 1 per cent of our business is here in New Zealand," said Mr Dufaur. "That's because no one manufacturers medical saline here any more. We actually export pharmaceutical salt, which comes back to New Zealand in the form of saline solution."

Although he would not divulge market share figures, Mr Dufaur said Dominion Salt had a major share of the market for pharmaceutical grade salt in a number of countries in Asia, South America, and in Australia.

The company produces 60,000 to 70,000 tonnes of salt annually at its original base of operations in Lake Grassmere, Marlborough, much of it processed at an adjoining plant for domestic use. However, in the early 1970s it became apparent Grassmere would not be able to meet industry's growing need for salt, and commissioned the vacuum refinery in Mount Maunganui to produce and supply high purity, fine salts for food products.

Tauranga was chosen because it provided access to the port for its significant imports of raw salt from a variety of international sources. The imported salt was either processed on-site into pharmaceutical grade salt, or used unprocessed for forestry industry applications, said Mr Dufaur. Proximity to agricultural, industrial and food producing customers in the North Island was a major factor in locating the plant in Tauranga, he said.

Mr Dufaur credited Robin Piggott, the company's North Island sales and export manager, with playing a major role in leading the drive into the export market.

Mr Piggott was one of two employees who had been with the company for almost 40 years. The company attributed Mr Piggott's industry knowledge as providing key inputs into Dominion Salt's decision to extend the Mount Maunganui refinery, doubling Pure Dried Vacuum salt production.

"Robin has basically led the company's pharmaceutical sales growth with his team," said Mr Dufaur.

Mr Piggott said that no other New Zealand company was exporting salt in volume.

"We are strong in the southern hemisphere," he said. "We have international competition, but it is mainly from the US and Europe."

He noted that Dominion Salt needed to comply with international medical and food standards in order to sell to major pharmaceutical and food and beverage companies.

Said Mr Dufaur: "Our business is built on compliance. In terms of medical compliance and food safety we're right up there."