Channel Infrastructure has entered into a 15-year contract with Higgins Contractors to develop a bitumen import terminal at Marsden Point.
The new terminal is expected to generate total revenue over the term of the contract of around $45m commencing in the second half of 2026. It is expected to require growth capital expenditure of between $17m-$21m across FY25 and FY26.
Including the Higgins contract, Channel Infrastructure has entered into three new storage contracts that it expects will deliver around $120 million of incremental revenue over the 15-year period for an investment of between $55m-66m of incremental growth capital expenditure.
The NZX-listed fuel import terminal is looking to raise around $50 million of new equity to fund these initiatives which it says will expand its product offering.
Higgins, a subsidiary of NZX-listed Fletcher Building, is one of New Zealand’s leading roading, civil and road construction companies. It started importing bitumen in 2023 after Z Energy exited the market.
Channel Infrastructure chief executive Rob Buchanan says his team is “making significant progress with the nearer-term opportunities to infill our existing site and repurpose and further utilise our existing infrastructure”.
“This new contract with Higgins grows and further diversifies Channel’s contracted revenue that is not dependent on fuel volume and is another important step in the delivery of Channel’s Marsden Point Energy Precinct for New Zealand.”
Fletcher Construction chief executive Phil Boylen says the new terminal will provide critical infrastructure services and products to the New Zealand market and supplements its existing bitumen import terminal at Port of Napier.
“We are well placed to support the Government’s Land Transport investment agenda including the State highway network and local road maintenance through our integrated delivery platform of bitumen, asphalt manufacture and construction services,” Boylen says.
Higgins general manager Andrew McRae says the importation and supply of bitumen has become an important part of the business.
“This facility enhances bitumen supply for our own projects and allows us to supply the wider construction industry in the upper North Island,” he says.
Channel Infrastructure’s other storage contracts include the transmix (a mix of petrol/jet/diesel product) contract announced in May 2024 and the Z Energy jet storage contract announced in August 2024.
