Port of Tauranga makes record profit

Port of Tauranga has strengthened its position as the country's largest port, after reporting a rise in trade and a record profit of nearly $58million.

Trade volumes through the port for the year ending June increased 12.4 per cent to 15.4 million tonnes, from 13.7 million tonnes in the previous year.

This included 78 per cent more international cargo, excluding cement and oil products that move around the New Zealand coast, and export volume was more than three times its nearest competitor, Ports of Auckland.

The net profit reached $57.9million, up 17.2 per cent from $49.4 million in 2010, and chairman, John Parker, said the result underscored Port of Tauranga's position as the country's pre-eminent port.

"Despite the patchy economic recovery, we have enjoyed strong growth in trade volumes. We are now far from being a bulk and largely log dependent port. Our containerised tonnage now represents 40.5 per cent of total trade," he said.

Container movements rose 15per cent to 590,506 TEUs (20-foot equivalents), from 511,343. At the Auckland inland MetroPort, container traffic increased 20 per cent to 138,000 TEUs, from 115,000 in 2010.

Mr Parker said strong demand for New Zealand's commodity exports, particularly from Asia, and rising confidence in the dairy sector boosted bulk cargo volumes. Log exports rose from 3.8 million to 4.4 million tonnes, up 14.5 per cent, fertiliser imports jumped 64 per cent from 324,000 tonnes to 530,000 tonnes and grain and dairy food supplement shipments increased 26 per cent from 849,000 tonnes to 1.1 million tonnes. Total exports were 10.2million tonnes and imports 5.2million tonnes. The port company is paying a final dividend of 21 cents a share, on top of the interim dividend of 10c - an increase of 6.9 per cent on the previous year's payout.

Port company chief executive Mark Cairns said new services calling at Tauranga should increase container volumes. The shipping reorganisation has resulted in five new weekly services, operated by Mediterranean Shipping Company, Pacific International Lines, Maersk Line, CMA CGM and a new consortium, AUSPAC (Swire, Neptune, PFL, and PDL).

"Along with some consolidation in other services, we expect a net 180 additional vessel visits to Tauranga annually," Mr Cairns said.

Although kiwifruit cargo held up during the year - 757,000 tonnes - the Psa bacterial vine disease would likely weigh on export volumes as it begins to harm plant productivity. Log exports continued to strengthen and the demand for commodities, particularly from China and India, looked to be robust, he said.