PORT of Tauranga continues to consolidate its position as New Zealand’s international hub port, with transhipment increasing 11.2% in 2018/19. The port handled more than 26.9m tonnes of cargo, an increase of 10.2% in volume, with containerised cargo growing 4.3% to more than 1.2m TEU.
Group net profit after tax passed the $100m milestone for the first time, increasing 6.7% on last year’s profit of $94.3m to reach $100.6m.
Annual container throughput at the Port of Tauranga increased 4.3% to more than 1.2m TEU. In addition, log export volumes increase 12.5% to 7.1m tonnes, exports increase 11.2% to 17.1m tonnes and imports increase 8.4% to 9.8million tonnes.
In 2018/19, annual revenue at the port increased 10.4% to $313.3m.
Port of Tauranga’s chair, David Pilkington, said the results were evidence of Port of Tauranga’s success in becoming New Zealand’s major international hub port.
Transhipment has been growing significantly since 2016, when the port completed its $350m capacity expansion program to accommodate bigger container ships. Transhipment now makes up 32.1% of the containers handled at Tauranga.
Mr Pilkington said Port of Tauranga’s long-term agreements with key customers give it the assurance to plan ahead for increases in cargo growth.
“Having the necessary infrastructure is one thing, but it is also vital to have the relationships to ensure we have the freight volume to attract the big ship services,” Mr Pilkington said.
“We have long-term agreements in place with key cargo owners such as Oji Fibre Solutions, Fonterra’s shipping supplier Kotahi Logistics and Zespri International.”
