Port of Tauranga, New Zealand’s international hub port, today reported a slight decrease in cargo volumes for the first quarter of the 2020 financial year.
From 1 July 2019 to 30 September 2019, Port of Tauranga handled nearly 6.8 million tonnes of cargo, a 1.1% decrease on the same period last year.
Log exports dropped 5.2% in volume to just over 1.7 million tonnes, following a sharp decrease in international prices and demand in the past few months.
Dairy product exports decreased 1.7% compared with the same period last year.
However, container numbers increased overall to more than 312,000 TEUs, a 5.8% increase on the first quarter of last financial year.
Transhipments, where a container is transferred from one service to another at Tauranga, increased 9.2% to more than 92,000 TEUs.
Port of Tauranga Chief Executive, Mark Cairns, told the Company’s Annual Meeting of Shareholders today that the unaudited Group Net Profit After Tax for the first quarter was $21.7 million, down 6.3% from $23.2 million in the previous corresponding period.
“Based on the first quarter’s performance, and notwithstanding any significant market changes, we expect full year earnings to be between $96 and $101 million,” said Mr Cairns. ”This is the same guidance we gave at last year’s Annual Meeting for this year’s record result.”
