Fonterra plea for port channel consent

Granting consent for Port Otago to deepen and widen its channel will be in the best interests of New Zealand's export sector, Fonterra trade and operations general manager strategy Nigel Jones says.

Fonterra represents 25% of New Zealand's exports and ships about 130,000 20-foot equivalent units (TEU) out of the country - with more than 20% of those leaving from the Port of Otago.

Mr Jones, commenting at Port Otago's resource consent hearing yesterday, said if New Zealand was not able to accommodate bigger, more fuel-efficient vessels the country's international competitiveness would be further eroded in both environmental and economic terms.

"Future proofing Port Otago's infrastructure is vital if the region is to remain internationally competitive," Mr Jones said.

In recent years, New Zealand exporters and importers had witnessed major swings in the cost associated with the constituent parts of their supply chains, with fuel-price increases and reductions in capacity, Mr Jones said.

For New Zealand to efficiently handle growth predictions, it would need to accommodate larger vessels in the region of 7000 TEU, which would reduce cargo costs by 25%-30% as well as lower fuel costs.

"As a country, we can ill afford to sit back and wait for overseas shipping companies to develop solutions for us."

Larger vessels would also deliver significant environmental benefits to the economy by using less fuel, he said.


 

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