NZ | Ports + Infrastructure

[otumoetaiNZ]

Originally Posted by Richard7666

Because Tauranga is a major primary producer of goods and...oh wait no it isn't.

Auckland isnt a primary producer of the main export products for this country either so maybe youd care to start an argument about how unimportant auckland is then? Same flawed logic that your using as always

[KiwiGuy]

Originally Posted by otumoetaiNZ

Got any numbers to back up that tauranga imports are mostly bound for auckland? Nah of course not, youre not smart enough for that.

But you can keep on trying building your straw man but in the mean time maybe you can prove why shipping stuff to nelson then trucking it (because theres no rail) to christchurch makes sense? Oh wait it doesnt does it.

Sticking your fingers in your ears and pretending others don't exist isn't helping. And as I said, this future link will probably be a catalyst for future rail development.

Nelson exports and imports freight not just from around NZ but the world as well. We're not that "backwater" you make us out to be.

[honeybear]

When I first read this "blue highway" bizzo I must admit I thought it was a joke! We have a hugely underutilized electrified railway from Akl - Wlg, 2 very competitive ferry companies over Cook Strait with their ships lying idle or sailing half full for much of the year and another stretch of now very quiet train track from Picton to Christchurch. The infrastructure is there for double the volume of freight to be handled between AKL - Chch on a 24 hour operation. I cant for the life of me see how it could possibly be cheaper, quicker or operationally more efficient to send goods via country roads to Taranaki, load on to ships for moving to Nelson, then tranship again for a truck ride to Christchurch???

And if you seriously think that Kiwi rail is going to investigate building a rail link to Nelson for this supposed traffic when we cant even get a link to Marsden point or whatever (kiwi rail is closing down rail links not opening them) then I think you mite have had a few too many...

The good folk of taranaki could probably better spend their time trying to get freight back on to rail to save the SOL line rather than wasting time and resources on these sorts of studies i would have thought

[Paulsy]

Originally Posted by otumoetaiNZ

Got any numbers to back up that tauranga imports are mostly bound for auckland? Nah of course not, youre not smart enough for that.

But you can keep on trying building your straw man but in the mean time maybe you can prove why shipping stuff to nelson then trucking it (because theres no rail) to christchurch makes sense? Oh wait it doesnt does it.

Oh heck, you're too smart for me. You've also discovered straw man on Wikipedia. Whatever next?

[NZ1]

Originally Posted by Davee

The link between Auckland and Christchurch is vital for the country - why not just sail between the two? Both have deep water harbours? Surely ships can cope with sailing up and down the east coast and the trip would take no longer than 24 hours?

I really don't know how long it would take - perhaps someone on here more closely associated with the freight industry could enlighten us? I've heard that same argument come from the rail proponents who say "why not just rail the goods from Auckland to Christchurch", so there must be some fundamental reasons why this isn't happening already.

Previous articles on the shipping service talked about freight movements between New Plymouth, Nelson and the West Coast, allowing quicker access for those sites to the only deep water port on the West coast, so perhaps the volume of AKL-CHC freight is only part of the story.

Obviously having a number of different transport options for freight through-out the country will always be beneficial.

[KiwiGuy]

Thing is, it would be good for other viable transport options in case the current system is rendered inoperable for some reason. Christchurch isn't looking too flash for future rail development (for obvious reasons) so another alternative would be viable should the main link fail for some reason.

Anyway, that's a bit off-topic.

[Richard7666]

Originally Posted by otumoetaiNZ

Auckland isnt a primary producer of the main export products for this country either so maybe youd care to start an argument about how unimportant auckland is then? Same flawed logic that your using as always

Not the main export products, no, but I never said that.

[otumoetaiNZ]

This is definitely the future of shipping in new zealand. One or two major hub ports with all the rest either closing or being used to feed the hub, and the close you are to that hub the easier and more cost effective itll be to import or export your goods.


Port of Tauranga tips 25pc traffic jump

Tauranga's port has been chosen by the world's second-largest container shipping line as the only New Zealand stop-off for its new Oceania Express service.

The vessels will initially call every fortnight but once business grows it will revert to weekly, and all the east coast ports will send cargo to Tauranga.

The service was announced by Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) yesterday. Tauranga will become part of a rotation that includes Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane, Balboa at the Pacific entrance to the Panama Canal, and Californian city Long Beach.

Port of Tauranga has recently announced five other new services, and the company expects container volumes will increase by 20 to 25 per cent in the next year, reaching 750,000 TEUs (20-foot equivalents).

Port of Tauranga chief executive Mark Cairns said the latest shipping service would mean more jobs at the port.

"We are delighted that MSC have chosen Tauranga as their New Zealand hub port and this announcement provides another tangible example of the structural change that is occurring in the New Zealand Port sector," Cairns said.

"We are undertaking significant capital expenditure at the container terminal over the next few years to ensure that we continue to provide our customers with world-class levels of productivity."

MSC's Oceania Express service would start in October.

- APNZ

[KiwiGuy]

Originally Posted by otumoetaiNZ

This is definitely the future of shipping in new zealand. One or two major hub ports with all the rest either closing or being used to feed the hub, and the close you are to that hub the easier and more cost effective itll be to import or export your goods.

So, am I to expect the closure of Port Nelson on the basis that is nowhere near Tauranga? Is Port Chalmers going to close? What about Lytelton? They're nowhere near Tauranga either. Should they close?

[otumoetaiNZ]

Originally Posted by KiwiGuy

So, am I to expect the closure of Port Nelson on the basis that is nowhere near Tauranga? Is Port Chalmers going to close? What about Lytelton? They're nowhere near Tauranga either. Should they close?

Did you read what I said? Small town ports like nelson could be feeders to tauranga and auckland if cargo volumes are alright, otherwise they could be closed. Nelson probably wont cause its isolated from any major ports.

[KiwiGuy]

Originally Posted by otumoetaiNZ

Did you read what I said? Small town ports like nelson could be feeders to tauranga and auckland if cargo volumes are alright, otherwise they could be closed. Nelson probably wont cause its isolated from any major ports.

Wait, are you saying it should be or it shouldn't?

[Richard7666]

new crane for Bluff

Aug 25 (BusinessDesk) – The Port of Bluff operator, South Port New Zealand Ltd., will spend $6.3 million in the next financial year on new cargo-handling facilities in the largest commitment of capital spending since the company was formed in 1988.

South Port reported a net profit after tax of $5.98 million in the year to
June 30, a 15% improvement on the previous year as every major cargo category, including logs, processed sawn timber, meat and dairy-related exports and imports, and a record year of shipping from the Rio Tinto aluminium smelter at nearby Tiwai Point.

“In the port industry, it is unusual for almost all cargo sectors to be either growing or maintaining their existing tonnage levels at the one time,” said chairman John Harrington in a statement to the NZX.

Total tonnage through the port had increased from 2.17 million tonnes in the previous financial year to 2.674 million tonnes, and the port had “at times been stretched with its existing resources to service an elevated base level of cargo.”


Consequently, despite forecasting profits 15% to 20% lower in the current financial year, Harrison said the port was committing $5.8 million to a new, larger mobile harbour crane, and $700,000 on an additional heavy lift container forklift.

At the same time, South Port is lifting its total dividend payout for the year to 20 cents a share, compared with 17 cents last year. A final, fully imputed dividend of 14.5 cents a share, payable Nov.2, with a record date of Sept. 23.

The result was built on record revenues of $25.1 million, up 11% on the previous year, while earnings per share lifted from 23.9 cents to 19.9 cents on a normalised basis, which ignores non-cash impacts of changes to rules
governing capital asset depreciation.

The reduced profit outlook owed to the strength of the New Zealand dollar, weakening dairy commodity prices, and debt-constrained European and American economies, along with a substantial increase in insurance premiums because of the Canterbury earthquakes.

At balance date, the port had only managed to replace some 80% of its expiring reinsurance cover, although the remainder had been purchased since then.

With just 26.2 million shares on issue and issued capital of $9.4 million, the thinly traded South Port shares were unchanged today at $3.20.

[Richard7666]

otumoetaiNZ, which ports would you close?

[otumoetaiNZ]

Any which carry very low volumes of goods, are close to hub ports, or are subsidised by the regional councils. So probably oamaru (use lyttleton), whanganui (whats left of it), and gisborne.

Id downgrade timaru, port chalmers, nelson, new plymouth and napier to feeder ports which would service tauranga, auckland and maybe northport once the place and the railway network is upgraded sometime in the future.

[nthbeach]

What a stupid idea, why?

[Richard7666]

Gisborne should lose its useless port, Tauranga should lose its useless airport.

At least Lyttleton and Wellington are left alone. And Bluff, though you probably just forgot to give it the chop.

Have any ports actually ever been closed? Some on the West Coast maybe?

[otumoetaiNZ]

What does gisborne export? Maybe a few logs but they could be sent on a barge, small ship or maybe rail to a major port or maybe combined with other stuff at napier and then sent on to a major port.

And its not just me calling for it but experts in the industry. Theres just too much replication of infrastructure in this country especially in smaller towns.

[nthbeach]

Have you not thought of lack of rail infrastructure, what about the idea of moving goods domestcially, imports, regional development, heard of a term hub and spoke?

[KiwiGuy]

Originally Posted by nthbeach

Have you not thought of lack of rail infrastructure, what about the idea of moving goods domestcially, imports, regional development, heard of a term hub and spoke?

Hard to do when the advocate of a central hub is too busy pulling out the spokes.

[nthbeach]

and the wheel falls over