Big volumes force Tauranga port growth

By Graeme Kennedy

Friday 11th June 2004

New Zealand's biggest export port, Tauranga, is getting bigger, with a major expansion programme to handle fast-growing container volumes.

The port and Toll Rail are together investing $4 million to increase capacity at five-year-old Metroport, Tauranga's rail-linked import and export terminal in South Auckland.

Tauranga will receive a fourth container crane in October and has lifted its straddle carrier fleet to 15.

Acting chief executive Colin Boocock said the port's location gave it easy access to export commodities such as dairy and horticulture products and timber which had, however, slumped due to over-cutting in the central North Island.

Boocock said Tauranga had handled five million tonnes of logs 60% of total New Zealand exports but volumes had fallen by one million tonnes.

Dairy volumes increased 10% last year to 800,000 tonnes, driven mainly by P&O's fixed-day weekly NZAX service which ended Auckland calls in February.

Kiwifruit was up 10%, to 600,000 tonnes. The port also handled 350,000 tonnes of steel from the Glenbrook mills.

"But container growth through Metroport is fuelling expansion," Boocock said.

"The P&O service is also helping and we expect to handle about 385,000 containers this year."

Metroport expansion includes doubling the sealed area to provide capacity for 1390 TEUs (20ft equivalent units), up from 642, and construction of two new rail tracks to separate loading and unloading and accept trains able to handle 70 TEUs, an increase of 10.

The expansion is a further step in Tauranga's creation of a South Auckland "freight village" to provide integrated services for shippers, importers and exporters.

"Future growth will be driven by our ability to provide the services shipping lines and other customers want with a seamless operation into Auckland," Boocock said.

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