Study Considers Container Port Needs For Different Freight Futures

NEW ZEALAND – As anyone who lives on an island knows, the shipment of freight both in terms of import and export cargo is of crucial interest to the future well being of the populace. Now a new study released yesterday by the independent economic consulting and forecasting organisation NZIER takes an intensive look at several possible future scenarios with regard to container port development and the potential rise or fall of trade in the country.

New Zealand of course is no ordinary island culture, for a start there are two islands which compounds the problem of where best to situate the ports with regard to international trade, and the study considers many relevant factors including the rising importance of Asian trade, potential monopolistic behaviour of private port operators, whether to challenge Australian dominance of container shipping by dredging deepwater channels for the 15,000 TEU vessels now becoming a reality and much more.

The report was commissioned by the Government's Transport Department who intimated on its release that they would not interfere in port rationalisation, in other words they weren’t intending to stump up any money but were more than happy to let shipping groups take the risk.

Another recent report by the Shippers Council recommended expansion of the country’s international port facilities by ensuring the larger container ships could access freely but everyone is aware that extensive reconstruction costs money and port operators have reacted cautiously at this early stage whilst they digest the contents of the report.

Anyone wishing to read the report in full can access it at the NZIER website HERE.