Quakes help surprise turnaround at Lyttlelton Port

Tuesday, 26 September 2017

Chief executive of Lyttleton Port, Peter Davie, explains expansion plans during a recent media tour.

The earthquakes in late 2016 affecting road and rail container trade to the South Island have paid dividends for Lyttelton Port of Christchurch

The company will contribute $8 million to the city council's Christchurch City Holdings compared with the $2m dividend of last year.

The port achieved record container volumes in the year ending June 2017 as freight companies used coastal ships after the Kaikoura highway and rail line were damaged.

Container numbers hit a record 400,000 compared with last year's 361,812.

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The port has also handled a jump in exports coming from other South Island ports and shipped via Lyttelton, as well as imports destined for other New Zealand ports

'We achieved an all time record for car imports, while bulk fuels, log exports and coal are all up compared with the previous year,' chief executive Peter Davie said.

'We are in the enviable position of having the best balance of import and export containers of any port in the country and this produces efficiencies and cost savings for our customers.'

The company reported revenue of $114.4m in revenue, a significantly increased net profit after tax of $14.4m.

The value of exports increased from $4.5 billion to $4.8b and imports increased from $4b to $4.2b.

The number of cars imported was 55,488 (43,533 last year).

'We face a large forecast increase in freight demand. We are in one of the most exciting stages of development in our history. We will have the best facilities and capacity in the South Island.'

It managed 52 per cent of the South Island's containers.

'We now provide double berthing for ships, and investment in state-of- the-art infrastructure continues with the arrival of a new $12.5m Liebherr crane, maintaining our crane fleet at four.

'Our new Inland Port at Rolleston, MidlandPort provides unprecedented connectivity for the South Island's long term trade growth, with the first container rail service route between Rolleston and the Port.

'We have obtained resource consent to deepen the harbour's channel so larger vessels carrying more containers can access the port. It is estimated this will decrease freight costs for Lyttelton customers by more than 10 per cent.

'There is currently an appeal underway relating to this consent.'

Moving port operations to the east onto land being reclaimed in Te Awaparahi Bay would triple space for the growing container trade.

The redeveloped Te Ana Marina was under way, as well as upgrading and rebuilding container berths and some of inner harbour jetties.

'We look forward to welcoming some of the world's largest cruise ships. The local and regional economy will be boosted by the $56m cruise berth we are planning.'