The shares of the Fonterra Shareholder Fund made its debut on the NZX at $6.66, which is $1.16 higher than its listing price of $5.50.

The units were trading 23.09 per cent higher at $6.77 as investors completed 1042 trades of 19,975,188 units this afternoon. The total trade during the three hours was valued at $133 million following the launch of Trading among Farmers.

The units closed at $6.85 on the previous day after it touched a high of $6.95 and a low of $6.56 during the day. Data showed that 30 percent of the available units traded yesterday and brokers said that the trading was better than expected.

New Zealand's Fonterra Cooperative held a special event to mark the launch of Trading Among Farmers (TAF) and to inaugurate its new $200 million milk powder plant at Darfield. Chairman-elect John Wilson said that the two events indicates that the co-operative ahs a strong future.

"Today for the first time in Fonterra's history, farmer shareholders are able to buy and sell shares among themselves on the Fonterra Shareholders' Market. At the same time, members of the public can now gain exposure to a New Zealand success story and the world's largest dairy processor by buying units in the Fonterra Shareholders' Fund," he said.