92 | REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT Port Taranaki Vital port embracing the future Richard Loader The export log trade from Port Taranaki continues to grow. With its foundations laid in 1881, Port Taranaki is the only deep-water seaport on New Zealand’s western seaboard and is a key strategic asset for the regional and national supply chain, in particular the energy, agricultural and forestry sectors. With a vision to be The Pride of Taranaki, the Port’s aim is to make trade easy for customers, and prides itself on being able to quickly adapt to changes in market conditions and trends, and to meet current and prospective customers’ needs. Since the beginnings of major offshore and onshore oil and gas exploration in the 1960s, Port Taranaki has been a key partner to the industry and is regarded as New Zealand’s premier energy port. Bulk liquid trade is the port’s dominant business by volume, with 2.9m tonnes out of total trade volume of 5.1m moving across the port in the 2020-21 financial year. The Newton King Tanker Terminal is a world-class facility for the transfer of petrochemical products and bulk liquids, including crude oils, liquefied petroleum gas and methanol. Some of the port’s long-term partners are some of the world’s largest energy companies, including Methanex, OMV, and Liquigas. Port Taranaki also provides offshore maritime support for exploration and production, and related onshore heavy lifting and laydown and storage services. While continuing to support its oil and gas partners and believing gas has an important role to play in maintaining energy balance in the transition to a low-emissions environment, the Port is also positioning itself to support new energy solutions. “We believe that with existing energy industry experience, Port Taranaki is well suited to providing services in this area, such as a base for maintenance and operations of the likes of offshore wind production, supporting production and export of renewable energy, such as hydrogen through the bulk liquids terminal, and supporting arrival, moving and storage of project cargo,” says Ross Dingle, Head of Commercial. “In the past two years, we’ve received, moved, and stored components for two wind farms in the Taranaki and Manawatū regions, and are ready and able to be involved in more of this work in the future.” Adapting to changes in the New Zealand supply chain and coastal shipping, in 2017 Port Taranaki withdrew from the container sector and removed a large cool store on Blyde Wharf, which has been transformed into a key log storage space for the growing export forestry business. The addition of a log debarker at the port has also helped the growth in the export log trade. In the 2020-21 financial year, 1.1 million JAS (Japanese Agricultural Standard) tonnage of logs was exported from Port Taranaki — an increase of 41.7% on the previous year and the first time the Port had passed the one million JAS milest “Moturoa Wharf supports our dry bulk cargo business, including agricultural fertilisers and animal feed, and cement,” says Ross. “And in the past two years Port Taranaki has facilitated the export of live cattle shipments. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, we were also supporting the burgeoning cruise ship sector, which we were working hard to develop further. We hope to resume this business once it is safe to do so and we are eager to promote Taranaki as a world-class destination to visit.” A key strategic asset for the regional and national supply chain, the Port is owned by the Taranaki Regional Council (TRC). Each year Port Taranaki pays dividends to the TRC that help offset regional ratepayers’ rates bills and in the 2020-21 financial year, $8 million in dividends were paid to the TRC. In its 2020-21 annual report, the TRC said that ‘allowing for flow-on effects, the port’s operations are estimated to generate $28m in value added (GDP) in 2020-21. It also generates 319 fulltime equivalent jobs. “We’ve got a fantastic and unique asset here,” says Ross. “The port’s west coast location, world-class assets, land availability, staff experience and skills, and ability to adapt quickly and be flexible to changing needs, make it attractive to a wide range of business and industry, which benefits the region.” New Zealand’s premier occupational dive, sub-sea and marine provider We provide solutions to various sectors including: P 06 75 14104 W newplymouthunderwater.co.nz E info@newplymouthunderwater.co.nz • Marine Operations • Occupational diving • Remotely operated vehicles (ROV) • Ports and Harbours • Utilities industry • Offshore / Inshore/ Oil & Gas industries • Aquaculture • In-water survey / UWILD to Class SSANew Zealand We partner to move commerce with efficiency, flexibility and integrity Over 30 years of Experience in Cargo Handling & Service ssanzl.com
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