Value of Port on Auckland Councils balance sheet – $1.2 billion: The port:-
· Handles 31% of NZ’s container trade by value – the highest of any NZ sea or air port
· Around 70% of goods that pass through the Port go to-or-from businesses located within 35km of the Port – giving time-cost efficiencies and competitive advantages
· This trade represents almost $12.5 billion of value added annually and the equivalent of 187,300 jobs in the Auckland economy – many in the Southdown-East Tamaki area
· POAL dividends from Auckland Council’s ownership of the port offset the overall rates burden for each ratepayer by just under 4% or $88 per household (2014/15) – every $15 million of ‘dividend’ created by POAL equates to a 1% reduction in rates.
Moving the vehicle import trade to Northland
· Over a 24/7 cycle there would be a truck on the road to-from Auckland-Northport every 2.5 minutes
· Based on actual in 2015 of 21,000 units/month and the existing road from Auckland to Northport, an additional 55,000 km would be travelled by trucks each day
· A $35 million capital spend for trucks would be required, 140 additional drivers would be needed, and the increased cost to clients per year would be $90 million
Re using rail cargo between Auckland and Northland:-
· To upgrade the Northland line would be at least $500 million (including about 20 tunnels needing widening and a link from the main line to Marsden)
· Plus the $1 billion-plus cost of the new rail that would be required in urban Auckland from New Lynn to Southdown to Wiri and points south (as it would have to be) to bypass Newmarket
The claim that Port will ultimately move is hardly news – The Port Future Study findings were clear on three key points:
· POAL’s trade is critical to Auckland’s prosperity, and so Auckland can’t move its port until there is a port to move to
· Before the port re-locates, the port business has to be grown to a scale to be able to justify the billions of dollars of investment that will be required to build a new port and supporting (road and rail) infrastructure; and,
· Two possible new port locations – Manukau Harbour and Firth of Thames – warrant detailed investigation.
For more information contact Auckland Chamber CEO Michael Barnett
on 0275 631 150