Port of Auckland Fegusson container terminal
New Zealand ports are investing in infrastructure and equipment to maximise productivity while privatisation and acquisition is top of the agenda for Australian ports says a report by PortStrategy.
In Australia State Governments are privatising ports through lease deals to raise capital for infrastructure projects.
Brisbane was the first port to be privatised by the Queensland government, followed by Sydney’s Port Botany, and privatisation is gaining traction in Victoria.
The Victorian government has awarded contracts for operation of the port’s new automotive pre-delivery and inspection hub to Patrick AutoCare and the Toll/K-Line/QUBE joint venture, PrixCar.
The New South Wales government has confirmed it is going ahead with the privatisation of major coal port, Newcastle. The model will be a 99-year lease, mirroring the agreements for the ports of Botany and Kembla.
Competition has also increased between stevedores, as Hutchison Port Holdings has established bases in Brisbane and Sydney and is attempting to gain access to the stevedoring market in Melbourne.
New Zealand local bodies which hold the majority of port shares are extremely reluctant to ease their grip which negates any privatisation of ports here says the report by PortStrategy
The top two ports – Tauranga and the Ports of Auckland – are showing efficiency gains. Tauranga is reporting record productivity following a 170-metre extension of its container terminal and ancillary equipment and infrastructure upgrades.
Comparing year-on-year for the first quarter of its financial year, the port’s waterline net crane rate increased 20.5% to 37.1%, its ship rate lifted 25% to 73.5% and vessel rate rose 24.6% to 60.8%.
Ports of Auckland is also on the up. Statistics from the Ministry of Transport show the port hitting 86 moves an hour on the ship rate – 50% better than the port was doing just three years ago.
Auckland chief executive Tony Gibson says the company has a number of projects underway that have the potential to lift productivity, such as the Navis N4 terminal operating system to optimise vessel and yard planning.
“Labour productivity has improved markedly now that over half our workforce is on the new flexible shift and roster system and there is further upside to be gained once the entire workforce is on the same shift system,” he says.
“We have resource consent for expansion of Fergusson Container Terminal and work is progressing as planned. In early 2014 we will complete paving an additional hectare of reclamation, which will allow us to optimise our truck grid.
“Also in 2014 we expect to start construction of a 50-metre extension to Fergusson wharf and we plan to order an additional quay crane for the terminal. This will give us greater flexibility in operations and the ability to berth and service two 300-metre long container ships at the same time.”
Port Otago is in the throes of a $100m ‘Next Generation’ project which will see it dredge to 14 metres and then progressively to 15 metres to cater for 8,000 TEU ships.
The project also includes extending the multi-purpose wharf, commissioning a new tug and acquiring two new straddle carriers.
Energy hub Port Taranaki is understood to have become New Zealand’s second-largest export port by volume following the going live of a third Methanex production line.
Having handled about 3.5m tonnes of exports in the 2012-2013 financial year, the port is forecasting an expansion to 4.5m tonnes and then 5.0m tonnes over the next two financial years.
