Ports of Auckland expects container handling to grow

By Graeme Kennedy

Friday 23rd August 2002

Ports of Auckland expects continued growth in its core container handling business this year with spectacular increases in international trans-shipments and a stronger New Zealand dollar boosting import volumes, CEO Geoff Vazey says.

The company handled 593,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in the year to July for a 5% increase, including 30% more trans-shipments to around 1000 a week.

Mr Vazey said containers offloaded in Auckland for shipment to other international ports had grown 40% in the 2000/01 year and risen 53% in July compared with the same month last year.

"Something increasing at that rate hasn't come to the end of growth yet and it will continue to give us more opportunities," Mr Vazey said.

"The business has been driven by more shipping lines moving to fixed-day weekly services which make it easier to trans-ship containers to another carrier with regular schedules.

"Trans-shipment in the past meant days tied up in processing containers as imports and exports but our Axis Intermodel has developed a tool which can do it all in one second."

Mr Vazey said a rising exchange rate traditionally meant an increase in imports, and as New Zealand's biggest container port with 68% of all imports, Auckland expected increased business from the dollar trend.

Imported TEUs were up 4% for the year while exported units were unchanged. Containers made up 70% of the port's total volumes, breakbulk cargoes were up 14% while ship calls increased 2% to 2211.

He said Ports of Auckland had opened its first inland port at East Tamaki in April, a second would be operational in Otahuhu next month and a third in South Auckland was being planned as part of a network across the Auckland region.

"This strategy aims to achieve a smooth flow of containers to and from the seaport outside normal operating hours to ensure local cargoes are shipped through Auckland and to provide additional lower-cost land for container handling while making better use of our high-cost portside land," he said.

Chairman Neville Darrow said the port was progressing with plans to "unlock and optimise value" from its properties that were no longer needed for its core container-handling business.

"Development of an overall vision for waterfront land between the Viaduct Harbour and the Harbour Bridge is proceeding well," Mr Darrow said. The port sold the downtown and adjacent ferry wharves to local authorities earlier this year.

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