February 27 - The Port of Auckland has achieved record efficiencies and volumes for the six months ending December 31, 2013.
Breakbulk cargo handling, including non-containerised cargoes and vehicles, surged to 2.87 million tonnes, up 41.9 percent over the same period of 2012.
Net profit grew 70 percent year-on-year over the same period of 2012 to AUD26.6 million (USD23.8 million). Container traffic for the six-month period grew 15.1 percent to 476,333 teu, with imports and exports up 19.9 percent and 12.9 percent respectively.
"Our productivity has gradually improved since we started restructuring in 2011. As we've delivered more of what our customers want, so they've rewarded us with more business," said Ports of Auckland ceo Tony Gibson. "In effect the restructuring has enabled us to take advantage of an improving economy and Auckland's continuing growth.
"2014 has started well, with volumes holding up across all areas, and as a result we recently announced new investment to support on-going growth: a larger new tug to handle bigger ships, and two new straddle carriers to cope with the rising container numbers," Gibson added.