Annual container volumes fall at port

Container volumes at the Ports of Auckland fell 3 per cent in the year ended February, the company said today.

Total container volumes fell to 641,232 TEUs (twenty foot equivalents) for the year.

The company said in a statement the drop in container volumes was due mainly to the loss of a shipping service in February 2004, which at the time represented 8 per cent of its container volume.

Import container volumes were unchanged and export container volumes were down 3 per cent for the 12 months.

For the month of February, full imports were up 1 per cent and full exports fell 4 per cent compared to the same time the year-earlier.

Transhipment volumes fell 17 per cent for the 12 months. Monthly transhipment volumes were 29 per cent lower than in February 2004. Transhipment containers are unloaded at Auckland and reshipped to other destinations.

Breakbulk, or non-containerised, volumes were up 9 per cent to 5 million tonnes for the 12 months to end-February 2005. Monthly volumes rose 14 on February 2004 levels.

Shares in the company were unchanged at 685 this morning, having ranged between $6.45 and $7.70 over the past 12 months.

- NZPA