Portland cement has been manufactured in New Zealand since the late 1800s. Over the years, 18 cement works have operated throughout New Zealand. In 2024, only one full one remains – at Portland, near Whangārei.
Cement is the key ingredient in concrete. Concrete has a myriad of uses, from buildings and bridges to roads, railways, runways and wharves – and many others. New Zealand had plenty of raw materials for cement: limestone, marl or clay or shale and coal. Marl adds iron, alumina and silica – together with limestone, these are the building blocks of cement.
To make cement, the ingredients are burned in a kiln at very high temperatures, up to 1400 degrees C, to form hard lumps called clinker, which is then ground into a powder. Small quantities of imported gypsum are added to prevent the cement products setting too quickly after water is added.
Cement manufacture was located around major sources of limestone and other raw materials, and as close to the market as feasible. In New Zealand it was not easy to fulfil all these conditions with the location of the limestone being the dominant factor. Small-scale manufacturing was possible, which enabled relatively local and distributed production. With improved transport and distribution, larger plants were built, and companies amalgamated, changed locations and merged. Many plants closed.
The table below lists all the manufacturing sites that have existed in New Zealand. Three of these have listings in the Engineering New Zealand Heritage Record:
|
Date |
Location |
Company |
Closed |
Merged or Moved |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1885 |
Location Mahurangi, Warkworth |
Company John Wilson & Co. Ltd |
Closed 1929 |
Merged or Moved 1918 |
Notes Became Wilson's (NZ) Portland Cement Ltd |
|
1882 |
Location Ferntown, Golden Bay |
Company Ferntown Coal Mine & Portland Cement Works |
Closed 1886 |
Notes Became Golden Bay Cement Co |
|
|
1886 |
Location Walton Park,Fairfield, Dunedin |
Company James McDonald |
Merged or Moved 1890 |
Notes Became Milburn Lime & Cement Co |
|
|
1890 |
Location Pelichet Bay, Dunedin |
Company Milburn Lime & Cement Co. Ltd |
Closed 1928 |
||
|
1896 |
Location Limestone Island, Whangārei |
Company NZ Portland Cement Co. |
Closed 1918 |
Merged or Moved 1918 |
Notes Became Wilson's (NZ) Portland Cement Ltd |
|
1904 |
Location Elevation, Picton |
Company Wellington and Marlborough Lime and Cement C Ltd |
Closed 1907 |
||
|
1906 |
Location Motupipi, Golden Bay |
Company NZ Atlas Cement Company |
Closed 1909 |
||
|
1907 |
Location Te Kuiti (1) |
Company John Wilson and Co Ltd |
|||
|
1909 |
Location Burnside (1) |
Company Burnside Hydraulic Lime and Cement Company |
Closed 1911 |
Merged or Moved 1910 |
Notes Taken over by Milburn in 1910 |
|
1910 |
Location Tarakohe, Golden Bay |
Company Golden Bay Cement Works Ltd |
Merged or Moved 1919 |
Notes Became Golden Bay Cement Co. Ltd |
|
|
1916 |
Location Portland, Whangārei |
Company Dominion Portland Cement Co. Ltd |
Merged or Moved 1918 |
Notes Became Wilson's (NZ) Portland Cement Ltd |
|
|
1924 |
Location Silverdale |
Company Mappin and Co.'s Silverdale Lime Company |
Closed 1924 |
||
|
1929 |
Location Burnside, Dunedin (2) |
Company Milburn Lime & Cement Co. Ltd |
Closed 1988 |
||
|
1955 |
Location Te Kuiti (2) |
Company Waitomo Portland Cement Ltd |
Closed 1970 |
Merged or Moved 1961 |
Notes Became Golden Bay Cement Co. Ltd |
|
1957 |
Location Clifden, Orawia, Southland |
Company Southland Cement Co. Ltd |
Closed 1968 |
Merged or Moved 1969 |
|
|
1959 |
Location Cape Foulwind, Westport |
Company NZ Cement Co Ltd, Guardian Cement |
Merged or Moved 2016 |
Notes Became NZ Cement Holdings Ltd |
|
|
1963 |
Company Milburn NZ Ltd + NZ Cement Company merger |
Notes Became NZ Cement Holdings Ltd |
|||
|
1977 |
Location Burnside, Dunedin |
Company Milburn NZ Ltd (52% Holcim) |
Closed 1988 |
||
|
1993 |
Location Lee Valley, Nelson |
Company Waitomo Portland Cement Co Ltd |
Closed 1998 |
||
|
2012 |
Location Mt Maunganui |
Company HR Cement Ltd |
Notes Processes imported clinker |
More Information
"Cement Industry in New Zealand" by Murray King, 2017.
Entry by Murray King
Page last updated 27 September 2024
