Fertiliser industry leader passes on

A respected leader who had been instrumental to some of the most significant changes to the New Zealand fertiliser industry, former Ballance Agri-Nutrients Chief Executive Rex Syminton, passed away on 25 September 2011, in Tauranga.

Mr Syminton was with the co-operative through its most formative years during his 14-year stint as General Manager of BOP Fertiliser Limited.

When Mr Syminton joined the company it was a small local business, supplying fertiliser to neighbouring farmers in the Bay of Plenty and Waikato.

“By the time he left it had become Ballance as we know it today – a farmer-owned co-operative with four manufacturing sites spread across the North and South Island and more than 18,000 shareholders nationwide,” says current Chief Executive Larry Bilodeau.

“He led the industry moves away from localised manufacturing and distribution centres in the 1980s and 1990s to essentially become national operations by the start of the millennium.”

Mr Syminton arrived at Bay of Plenty Co-operative Fertiliser Company in 1987 after a distinguished engineering and management career spanning the logging, pulp and paper, and concrete industries. In responding to the challenge of the removal of fertiliser subsidies and the dramatically reduced demand for fertiliser products, he soon became involved in the resulting negotiations that led to the formation of the BOP Fertiliser Limited, designed to preserve a viable fertiliser business.

The chain of events that unfolded included the merger of BOP Fertiliser with Fernz Corporation’s Morrinsville-based subsidiary Kiwi Fertiliser; the formation of agricultural aviation company Super Air; and later, the purchase of the ‘Think Big’ ammonia-urea manufacturing plant at Kapuni, Taranaki.

BOP Fertiliser then made a move into the South Island market, merging with Southland Co-operative Phosphate Company, and then further expanded its footprint by purchasing Whangarei-based Farmers Fertiliser from Fernz Corporation.

“We are grateful for the contribution Rex made to Ballance through a prolonged period of development and change, and our Board of Directors and Leadership Team extend their condolences to his wife Gabrielle and their family.”