Port of Tauranga hits record highs

By Graeme Kennedy

Friday 2nd November 2001

WORKING HARD: Jon Mayson

The Port of Tauranga has set performance records in almost every area of its business as it continues to attract more shipping lines and cargoes and expand with acquisition and new development.

Already the country's biggest export port, Tauranga in the year to June 30 handled more than 10 million tonnes, including a new high of 286,600 containers, for the first time and strengthened its place as the country's largest dairy export gateway - a position it gained in 2000.

Profit was a record $22.4 million, earned on highest-ever revenues of $76.6 million. The port's performance sent its share price from about $5 a year ago to $6.80 - another record - by June and it has continued to climb.

CEO Jon Mayson said the 10 million tonnes of cargo was achieved despite a drop in the log trade, reflecting soft or static markets in Australia and Japan and uncertainty in Korea.

Tauranga's major export cargo, logs were down to 2.9 million tonnes - well below the port's biggest year with 3.5 million tonnes and the budgeted 2000/01 volume of 3.3 million.

However, he said wood chip, kiwifruit and frozen meat were all well up while dairy products, including trans-shipments from the South Island, were 663,000 tonnes.

Mr Mayson said the port had worked hard to attract the dairy trade, targeting shipping lines the industry used to carry its products and providing facilities and services to better handle the volumes.

"Logic would dictate that a port like ours close to the North Island's dairying heartland, would attract the bulk of this sector's exports," he said, "but in the past this was not the case and a lot of product was roaded and railed to Auckland and shipped from there.

"We focused for some time on providing the infrastructure and delivering the level of service required to attract new shipping lines to the port and encourage customers such as the dairy industry to come here."

Mr Mayson said the 1999 opening of the South Auckland Metroport, run in conjunction with Tranz Rail which carries containers to Tauranga for shipment, attracted new shipping lines, and in September the company opened a new 7000sq m dairy storage shed to provide facilities the dairy industry needed to service its international markets.

"A key factor in attracting dairy cargo to Tauranga was the decision by the Australia New Zealand Direct Line (ANZDL) to shift its port call from Auckland to us as Metroport's first customer," he said, "so there is a clear link between our establishment of Metroport and the subsequent growth of dairy volumes moving through Tauranga."

He said Fesco New Zealand Express Line announced in March it would call at Tauranga rather than Auckland for its weekly Far East service while Wallenius Wilhelmsen in April began a new schedule calling at Tauranga to Europe, the US, Australia and Asia.

Maersk has also decided to introduce a new fixed-day fortnightly service to North and Latin America, providing the first direct link from Tauranga to those areas and an extra 10,000-15,000 containers a year.

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