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As the ports of Auckland and Tauranga work on merger proposals at the top of the country, their counterparts in Otago and Lyttelton appear to be considering something similar in the south.
Port Otago chairman John Gilks told The Press newspaper his company was keen for talks in coming months, perhaps through an informal approach.
"We believe the big gains will be in the individual ports doing certain things and specialist things, rather than both ports trying to do everything," Mr Gilks said.
"The big gains would come from a repositioning of some of the cargo flows, instead of the ports repeating everything."
Potentially, Lyttelton could take a stronger emphasis on imports -- already its strength -- and Otago could bolster its export operations.
Lyttelton's major forward capital expenditure plan could potentially be "minimised", Mr Gilks said.
Lyttelton Port of Christchurch (LPC) chief executive Barney Sundstrum said multimillion-dollar savings could be made.
"But we've always said the country is over-ported and there are benefits to be had in rationalisation. That's something we've pursued in the past and will pursue in the future," he said.
Asked if there would be talks this year, he said: "It's not unlikely ... when it's appropriate I'm sure discussions will take place."
Christchurch City Council-owned LPC tried to link with Hong Kong giant Hutchison Port Holdings last year.
But Port of Otago's purchase of a stake in LPC upset that plan.
In November, Mr Sundstrum said the LPC board felt a fully integrated approach, involving ports, shipping lines and domestic transport infrastructure was needed where all parties were investing wisely and making decisions that were enduring and in the best interest of importers, exporters and the country as a whole.
While the attempt at linking with Hutchison was not successful, LPC continued to look at ways it could meet global market demands for efficient transport links.
- NZPA
