Port Nelson has achieved an off peak-season record of 5141 container movements in a week during August.
The company says it’s a positive sign but warns that shipping disruptions are over yet.
Over the period 1 July 2020 to 31 June 2021 container volumes through the port were 13% below expectation.
It was mostly impacted in the last six months of that period, when nearly 20 of the expected 80 vessels did not turn up to the port.
“Lack of equipment, shipping disruptions, and increased costs are key issues that exporters are navigating.
“There is also high utilisation of storage facilities at this advanced stage of the peak export season in Nelson causing additional pressure,” it says.
In May, space became a premium at the port with full containers stacked in the empty depot. Roadways were adapted for four-high export stacks and general containers were filling available space in reefer towers.
The container terminal had come to a critical point and had gone over and beyond its capacity. For the first time in Port Nelson’s history it was forced to close for receivals.
The port’s record week in August of 5141 twenty foot equivalent units (TEU) moved was highest number of TEU in one week in the last four years and the highest moves outside the apple season (March to May).
The team broke new records with the port importing a record number of containers in the week of 1021 TEU which was the result of another record-breaking week for wine and bottle imports and exports standing at 1096 combined TEU with bottle imports making up over half of this volume with 626 TEU – another new record.
The Port’s QuayPack team, the on-site logistics and warehousing division, also had a record-breaking week by de-vanning 230 40-foot containers after receiving 380 to de-van at the start of the week.
Shipping data shows the reliability of global container traffic schedules fell from 75% to 35% over the period July 2020 to January 2021.
Congestion was felt by import and exporters which also saw a dramatic shift in the costs of container movements. The global index for container freight cost jumped 600% between June 2020 and July 2021.
Over the period February 2020 to April 2021, shipping reliability at New Zealand ports dropped to near-zero levels.
