Increased container volumes and log shipments have returned CentrePort Wellington to profit after an earthquake-affected result in 2014.
Net profit rose to $14 million in the year ended June 30, turning around a previous year loss of $1.9 million when the CentrePort operation incurred damage costs for the July 2013 earthquakes reports BusinessDesk.
Revenue increased 9% to $66 million with a 13% increase in container trade to 107,407 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) for the port operator.
CentrePorts log trade also increased 8% to 875,028 Japanese agricultural standard units (JAS).
The port operator is about 77% owned by Wellington Regional Council and 23% by Horizons Regional Council, whose territory extends from Horowhenua and Tararua to include Ruapehu in the central North Island.
The company has established inland freight hubs in New Plymouth, Palmerston North, Whanganui and Blenheim.
According to the released annual report, Wellington’s port operator wants to deepen its shipping channel and has increased its port storage facilities to accommodate larger vessels and more cargo.
“In the past 12 months, we continued to prepare our application for consent to deepen Wellington’s shipping channel to accommodate bigger ships,” says chief executive Blair O’Keefe.
The Wellington port has expanded its reach, opening a new container terminal in Whanganui. It has a relationship with state-owned KiwiRail to transport containers across the central New Zealand, which it says lowers costs.
