Thursday, 26 June 2014 15:48

Fonterra freight u-turn?

Written by 

HAVE LYTTELTON port's problems finally become too much for Fonterra?


Kotahi – the Fonterra and Silver Fern Farms' freight and logistics joint venture – committed container volume to Timaru which "is expected to quickly exceed the 80,000 TEU shipped across PrimePort's wharves when traffic last peaked in 2008".


Fonterra's 2010 decision to rail containers 170km from Clandeboye, South Canterbury to Lyttelton, instead of 30km to Timaru, saw Timaru PrimePort's volumes plummet with the loss of jobs and subsequent sale of the container business to Port of Tauranga.


Announcing a 10-year alliance with Kotahi this week Port of Tauranga chief executive Mark Cairns said Timaru is set to become an important South Island freight gateway thanks to the Kotahi deal and investments in a new freight hub at Rolleston, southwest of Christchurch.


"Kotahi's cargo commitment, which includes container traffic from customers around Timaru, gives Port of Tauranga the certainty to proceed with infrastructure to accommodate 6500 TEU ships (at Timaru). Timaru, as a key destination for a revitalised coastal shipping industry, will play a growing role in marshalling South Island export traffic north for these ships."


There are rail connections between Timaru, Rolleston, and Fonterra's expanding Darfield site. Services from Lyttelton were disrupted by the Canterbury earthquakes and more recently concerns about double-handling of freight due to limited container capacity on the port side of the Lyttelton tunnel.

 

More like this

Featured

Farmers urged not to be complacent about TB

New Zealand's TBfree programme has made great progress in reducing the impact of the disease on livestock herds, but there’s still a long way to go, according to Beef+Lamb NZ.

Editorial: Making wool great again

OPINION: Otago farmer and NZ First MP Mark Patterson is humble about the role that he’s played in mandating government agencies to use wool wherever possible in new and refurbished buildings.

National

Machinery & Products

Farmer-led group buys Novag

While the name and technology remain unchanged and new machines will continue to carry the Novag name, all the assets,…

Buhler name to go

Shareholders at a special meeting have approved a proposed deal that will see Buhler Industries, the publicly traded Versatile and…

» Latest Print Issues Online

The Hound

Make it 1000%!

OPINION: The appendage swinging contest between the US and China continues, with China hitting back with a new rate of…

Own goal

OPINION: The irony of President Trump’s tariff obsession is that the worst damage may be done to his own people.

» Connect with Rural News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter