New Zealand shipping rates are now ‘unsustainably low,’ according to South Port chairman Rex Chapman.
Talking at the port’s AGM he blamed supply chain agreements like one between Kotahi and Port of Tauranga.
He told the meeting that South Port will work to maintain good relationships with other ports, in order to take advantage of inevitable changes in the sector.
“Just as Tauranga has now reached into the South Island through Timaru, it is expected that other ports will be seeking to enter into working relationships with one another in order to capture regional cargo outside of their immediate catchment area,” Chapman said.
“New supply chain agreements such as that between Kotahi and Port of Tauranga have triggered intense competition between shipping companies for the remaining cargo and shipping rates are at unsustainably low levels,” he said.
