Transport: Ports
Description
Background and history
120. New Zealand’s ports support both domestic coastal and international freight movement services.
121. New Zealand had over 100 ports in the 19th Century. This number had approximately halved by 1935 and has continued to decline since. The following graph shows the change in volumes of trade over the last decade:
- Source: Statistics New Zealand
Assets
122. Fourteen exporting ports and a fewer number of other ports service trade or fishing vessels:
| 2007 provisional | Exports (tonnes) |
Exports ($ million) |
Imports (tonnes) |
Imports ($ million) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whangarei | 1,156,500 | 273 | 5,242,347 | 3,692 |
| Auckland | 2,518,128 | 7,355 | 3,876,030 | 15,665 |
| Tauranga | 6,022,908 | 7,539 | 3,878,882 | 4,659 |
| Taharoa | 682,200 | 14 | - | - |
| Gisborne | 589,041 | 119 | 7,029 | 1 |
| New Plymouth | 1,374,968 | 1,848 | 488,717 | 452 |
| Napier | 2,078,702 | 2,253 | 484,236 | 585 |
| Wellington | 818,456 | 917 | 1,217,135 | 2,208 |
| Nelson | 1,243,919 | 850 | 124,273 | 327 |
| Picton | 377,947 | 40 | 2,433 | 8 |
| Christchurch (Lyttelton) | 3,273,518 | 2,624 | 1,344,764 | 2,613 |
| Timaru | 517,266 | 1,116 | 314,842 | 382 |
| Dunedin (Port Chalmers) | 1,530,084 | 4,130 | 264,727 | 350 |
| Invercargill (Bluff) | 648,011 | 1,230 | 1,125,054 | 553 |
| New Zealand various (sea) | 49,990 | 8 | 24,411 | 2 |
| All seaports | 22,881,638 | 30,315 | 18,394,880 | 31,499 |
Source: Statistics New Zealand
123. Further background on the New Zealand port sector can be obtained from reports by Rockpoint[30] and CRA[31].
Institutional arrangements
124. Despite the removal of ownership restrictions almost two decades ago,[32] all our ports feature a substantial proportion of local government (LG) ownership, with 100 per cent ownership common.
Funding and pricing
125. Port companies are unregulated and are therefore able to set their own prices. They fund their operations from capital markets by raising debt and equity.
Planning
126. Port companies are fully responsible for planning their own capital investments.