新西兰英语 239 Farmers buy shares in Fonterra

　　Fonterra is the biggest company in New Zealand and also the biggest export¹ dairy² company in the world. It is a co-operative which means⁴ that farmers own it. In fact, 10, 500 dairy farmers in New Zealand own Fonterra. Each farmer has one share for each kg of milk solids⁵ that are sent to the dairy factory. Fonterra will pay $6.05 a kg for milk solids for the year 2009/2010. This is not the highest price ever paid but it is still very good, much better than Fonterra expected in September. However, most dairy farmers have to borrow money from the bank until they get their payout.
Fonterra wants to grow and needs more capital. The company asked the farmers if they wanted shares to be public. This would mean that other people, not farmers, could buy shares in Fonterra. The farmers said, “No”. Listen to Sept 5th 2009 for more information about this.
Then Fonterra offered farmers the chance to buy more shares. The offer closed last week. 3,461 farmers bought 60 million shares at $4.52 per³ share, and paid $270.7m in total. This is probably not enough money for Fonterra to grow. There is still a chance for farmers to buy shares later in the year but if Fonterra does not sell enough shares to farmers, the company will have to offer shares to the public.

1 export   

vt.输出，出口 n.出口，出口企业，出口品

参考例句：

• These cars are made for export.这些汽车是为出口而生产的。
• Some coffee and cacao are grown for export.种植的咖啡豆和可可豆有些是为了出口。

2 dairy   

n.牛奶场，乳品店；adj.乳制品的

参考例句：

• The yogurt sold by this dairy is delicious.这家乳品店出售的酸奶非常好喝。
• He kept a few dairy cows.他养了几头奶牛。

3 per   

prep.每，每一，根据，按照；由，经，以，靠

参考例句：

• These apples cost 40 pence per pound.这些苹果每磅40便士。
• The truck was traveling under fifty miles per hour.那辆卡车以每小时不到五十英里的速度行驶着。

4 means   

n.方法，手段，折中点，物质财富

参考例句：

• That man used artful means to find out secrets.那人使用狡猾的手段获取机密。
• We must get it done by some means or other.我们总得想办法把它干完。

5 solids   

n.固体( solid的名词复数 )；立体图形；立方体；硬粒

参考例句：

• Iron, wood and ice are solids. 铁、木和冰是固体。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Milk solids include salts, protein and sugar. 牛乳中的固态物质包括盐分、蛋白质和糖。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》