New Zealand’s Ports of Auckland Limited (POAL) and Napier Port plan to enter into a strategic alliance in an effort to optimize freight services and achieve further improvements in the supply chain.
The partnership is expected to prompt greater competitive contestability and resilience in New Zealand’s supply chain to help lower costs to exporters and importers, according to Ports of Auckland.
In addition, the alliance builds on Napier Port and Ports of Auckland’s existing joint venture in Palmerston North’s Longburn regional freight hub.
According to POAL, the alliance would support its regional freight hub network strategy to manage the growing freight market.
“Ports of Auckland and Napier Port are the gateways to two of the largest North Island provincial economies with significant growth and demands on infrastructure,” Tony Gibson, Ports of Auckland Chief Executive, said.
In 2015, Napier Port’s container throughput surged by 16.5% to a total of 256,438 TEUs, while POAL’s yearly container volumes went up by 0.4%.
POAL said that its car import industry continued to boom, with volumes up by 17.4% to a record 243,801 units, while its total breakbulk tonnage increased by 4.4% to 5.9 million tonnes.