Responding to comments made by Holden New Zealand managing director Kristian Aquilina to Auto Media Group last week, Ports of Auckland says the current wharf congestion is a whole supply chain issue.
“Kristian Aquilina makes some good points, but we think this issue is wider than just a port capacity issue or a national port strategy issue. It is a whole supply chain issue,” says Ports of Auckland head of communications Matt Ball.
“The problem is that the number of cars coming into Auckland has increased more than the ability of the whole industry to move cars off the port. It’s not just about port infrastructure,” says Ball.
“If the cars came off the port as fast as they landed, there wouldn’t be an issue,” he says.
Ball says the answer is to tackle all the pinch points in the supply chain including building a bit more space at the port.
“We are currently looking at how a car handling building would help,” says Ball.
He says other solutions include more investment in more trucks and drivers to get cars off the port, opening compliance centres and dealers for longer hours to accommodate the ongoing demand, as well as working with shippers to smooth the incoming supply.
“We had a good meeting with the industry recently and discussed how we could work together to improve the situation,” says Ball.
“We came up with some good ideas to speed up the movement of vehicles, but this will not be a quick fix as long as the volume coming in stays at these high levels,” he says.
