Mainfreight recorded FY25 group net profit of $274.3m, up 31% on the previous financial year. Photo / Supplied
With around $150 million of its annual revenue derived from the agriculture sector in New Zealand and Australia, logistics company Mainfreight is continuing to roll out new “rural” infrastructure to reflect and service increased tonnage and refreshed farmer confidence.
Managing director Don Braid says the agriculture sector is “home” for the global NZX-listed company and it’s investing in its New Zealand provincial network to be as close as possible to rural customers with new infrastructure introduced around the country this year, including to Cambridge, Taranaki, and Hastings while Blenheim got a new facility for viticulture customers.
In Palmerston North, the company, which posted 2025 financial year revenue of $5.2 billion, has expanded refrigeration and dry store facilities.
In New Zealand’s dairying capital, the Waikato, Mainfreight has four major operations.
The company recorded FY25 group net profit of $274.3m, up 31% on the previous financial year.
“We’re seeing increased tonnage from the agriculture sector and a higher level of confidence among these customers. The most obvious sign is the improvement in the milk price and the reduction in agriculture debt with the banks gives farmers’ more confidence,” Braid says.
“We continue to be confident about the sector and keep investing capital in those regional areas for inbound freight to service regional customers but also outbound freight for export.”
(Globally, Mainfreight’s capital expenditure on land and buildings in FY25 was $111.2m, with $330m of spending planned over the next two years.)
Braid says the perceived strengthening of the agriculture export sector is bolstered by what appear to be stronger opportunities for that sector, whether it be in primary product or equipment, technology and electronics associated with it.
He notes while beef, lamb and dairy spring to mind when discussing agriculture, the sector encompasses a much wider range of product and Mainfreight plays a diverse role in moving horticulture, seafood and seeds, as well as farming supplies, fertiliser and chemicals.
Mainfreight’s skill is its ability to link regional suppliers with both its international network and “intensive” domestic network, he says.
Operating and developing logistics businesses in large international markets is not for the fainthearted, and the smooth movement of freight around the world is being increasingly challenged by extreme weather events and geopolitical upheavals and disruption.
Mainfreight in its 2025 annual report said supply chain disruption was “becoming the new normal”.
“But our customers look to us to overcome those challenges and provide them with the ability to move their product around without too many of those issues,” Braid says.
“As Mainfreight has grown around the world, we’ve become very adept at changing and adapting to the requirements of our New Zealand exporters. We get deeply involved with shipping, where space is available, where it’s not available.
“It’s about establishing strong relationships with service providers, whether it be major airlines or shipping lines, and being able to provide those relationships through to customers, be they exporters or importers.
“That’s our role. To establish a level of service that’s second to none, to ensure our exporters and importers are provide with hassle-free supply chain services.”
Mainfreight has 337 branches in 27 countries.
Braid says it’s also the company’s role to influence freight rates as best as it can, and to be as competitive as possible for customers, as air and sea freight rates fluctuate based on macro conditions, including trade tariffs, space availability and the general peaks and troughs of the cargo sector.
He says the company has seen the impact of the US Trump administration’s tariff hikes.
“We’ve certainly seen it in our international sector on the transpacific [routes], as an example, from China to the US. And we’ve had smaller reactions across Europe to the US.
“Our customers in the US are almost sitting on their hands waiting to see what the ultimate outcome will be.
“That’s created a level of uncertainty in our customers’ minds, and as a consequence, tonnages haven’t been as strong as what they normally would be.
“Even now, when Trump suggests there is a tariff agreed to between China and the US, that’s yet to be enacted. It’s yet to be put in writing and we’re still sitting in that zone of pause that brings uncertainty to both importers and exporters.
“They’re uncertain as to what they will do and where they will manufacture. Should they stay with their manufacturers in China or should they look for other supply lines elsewhere, be it Asia or Mexico? So therefore, the exporters out of Asia and Europe haven’t got a level of confidence from the importers in the US as to what their intentions will ultimately be.”
This is the uncertainty the freight sector is working with, says Braid.
Uncertainty and hesitancy around the imposition of new US tariffs is eroding the confidence across supply chains that underpins global trade, says Mainfreight group managing director Don Braid.
“The biggest issue right now is the hesitancy it is bringing to world trade. Customers … are unsure what will occur and what it will mean for imports and exports around the world,” says Braid, agreeing uncertainty comes at a cost.
He offers the example of new US port fees for Chinese-owned or operated vessels, due to come into effect on October 14.
“But how that will be passed on to the market is unknown, and that is causing hesitancy for shipping lines and customers as to how this will apply, how much will it be applied and what it will mean for logistics across the supply chain.
“What we are seeing is customers unsure of where they will settle with their manufacturing. Will they have to move from China to other Asian countries? Will this mean manufacturing for the US will become closer to US borders? What does that mean for Mexico and Canada?”
The severity of the uncertainty varies from customer to customer, Braid says.
“They’re adopting different strategies in the medium term. But I guess, all are faced with what will they do for the long term.
“And until such time as the tariff situation is clarified and implemented, everyone is in that question mark situation.”
He expects the ongoing uncertainty to result in fluctuating freight volumes and trade lane pricing in the immediate future.
Meanwhile, Braid says Mainfreight is using the lessons from its successful foray into Australia as the basis for continuing to intensify its network around the world, including in Europe.
As he likes to remind people, an Australian transport company Mainfreight bought in 1998 and which the market called “a dog” of an investment, is today the company’s largest revenue and profit contributor, outstripping New Zealand operations’ performance.
NZX-listed and headquartered in Auckland, Mainfreight to date employs 3072 in Europe in 56 branches across 10 countries.
Braid says the risk inherent in being an international business close to geopolitical hotspots is managed by being a decentralised business – local leaders guide decision-making about local risk.
In Europe, Mainfreight operates a long way from the conflict in Ukraine, he says.
“The majority of our business is in the Netherlands, France, Germany, Belgium and the UK ... we are well aware of it but it’s not necessarily impacting our day-to-day freight load.”
The Gaza conflict continues to delay the Red Sea’s use as a transit for shipping lines, with the market having adapted to using the alternate route around the Cape of Good Hope, though it means added sailing time for shipping to and from Europe, he says.
● Mainfreight is an advertising sponsor of the Herald’s Agribusiness and Trade report.