Thu, 08 Oct 2009 4:40p.m.
Container volumes through the Ports of Auckland are rising but remain below levels of a year ago.
Container volumes of 208,812 TEU (20-foot equivalent container units) in the July-September quarter were 7 percent up on the April-June period, but down 5 percent year-on-year, the company said today.
Port managing director Jens Madsen said some of the increase in the latest quarter from the previous three months could be attributed to normal seasonal fluctuations, but overall the trend was heartening.
"In particular, we are seeing a gradual increase in full import container volumes. This is a good sign as we head in to the traditional busy import season ahead of Christmas," Mr Madsen said.
A similar trend with export volumes was anticipated in coming months.
Trans-shipment volumes, where containers destined for on-shipping to other New Zealand ports were routed through Auckland, were up 8 percent for the quarter compared to 2008.
Car volumes were up 14.8 percent in the latest quarter from the April-June period, but down 29 percent compared to last year.
Break-bulk (non-containerised) and bulk volumes lifted 9 percent from the previous period but were 33 percent lower than a year earlier.
The economic downturn had put increased cost pressure on the global shipping industry, prompting ongoing changes to shipping line services, Mr Madsen said.
"Unrelenting cost pressures have seen the large international shipping lines run much leaner operations over the last 12 months.
"Lines have also cut back on capacity, reducing the number of ships calling New Zealand and the number of available container slots."
An effect of the changes had been the consolidation of a number of direct import calls at Ports of Auckland, as shipping lines implemented vessel sharing arrangements similar to airline industry code sharing.
"There are clear time, cost and environmental benefits to discharging imports direct at the Auckland seaport, instead of routing import cargo from other ports via rail to the Auckland market," Mr Madsen said.
He expected volatility in the international shipping market to continue and remained cautious about the overall volume outlook for 2009/10.
NZPA
