News
Photo: South Port
The operators of The Port Of Bluff have broken through the three million tonne of cargo landmark over the past financial year and against previous predictions of a softening economic climate.
The news comes as South Port New Zealand Limited announced that it has recorded its best ever financial performance which has seen the operator of the Port of Bluff surpass $8 million in net earnings and post a higher dividend.
“Breaking the 3.0 million tonne cargo threshold is a significant milestone for the business and reflects a consistent period of growth since the 2009 year when cargo was 1.86 million tonnes,” said Chief Executive, Mr Mark O’Connor.
“This past year has, for all its uncertainty, delivered a fourth consecutive improved result for South Port,” said the Chairman, Mr Rex Chapman.
“To put the latest year’s volume in context, during the first half of the previous decade South Port’s cargo total remained within a range of 2.0 million to 2.1 million tonnes. Over the past ten years the Company’s freight volumes have climbed steadily, alongside a wider range of services being offered to the market.”
He said this overall improvement was surprising in the context of challenging market conditions for a number of primary industries.
“Bulk cargo activity was again a major influence on business, resulting in a 7% increase in cargo at 187,000 tonnes.”
The largest gains were made by logs, woodchips and dairy with most other cargoes showing good resilience to economic conditions.
“The cargo volume lift was achieved against the backdrop of a dairy industry that is being severely tested and a subdued sheep and beef sector,” said Mr O’Connor.
However, Open Country Dairy increased warehouse activity and additional storage capacity is being provided for this customer in the coming season. Another regional entity, Mataura Valley Milk, plans to build a $200 million dairy processing plant in Eastern Southland to manufacture infant formula and UHT cream.
An improved profit contribution from cold storage was due to busy seasonal fishing activity and continuing cost containment.
“Container volumes remained relatively static at 35,100 TEU (35,800) as a result of weaker imports for the dairy sector – specifically of high-end stock food and fertiliser products.”
“However, additional use of tracking and planning technology within the containerised cargo operation delivered productivity gains.”
Construction of the Intermodal Freight Centre, completed at Invercargill this year and opened in mid-July as an import cargo facility, will see containerised cargo, sourced from various ports, relayed on rail for unpacking and uplift by truck much closer to end users.
“The venture will service freight forwarders plus transport operators and will function on a port-neutral basis. The cost of developing the site was approximately $4.5 million”.
“South Port has worked effectively with KiwiRail plus a range of customers and freight forwarders to deliver greater efficiency in the import supply chain,” said Mr O‘Connor. “This lift in visibility in the Invercargill freight environment is an important step by South Port and signals the intent to actively look at ways to increase the Company’s effectiveness in the wider supply chain and diversify the business.