Ports of Auckland opens new freight hub

The new facility in Mount Maunganui, New Zealand, will provide Bay of Plenty exporters more choice and offer improved access to overseas markets, according to a statement from the port.    Ports of Auckland will open its third intermodal freight hub in New Zealand, located in Mount Maunganui, a town situated along the Bay of Plenty just outside of Tauranga, New Zealand.
   The new hub, which is expected to be operational by the end of 2015, is being constructed to provide Bay of Plenty exporters more choice and offer improved access to overseas markets, the port said in a statement.
   Ports of Auckland teamed up with third-party logistics company Toll Group and land owner Triton Pacific to construct the remaining infrastructure required for the site. Toll, whose acquisition by Japan Post Co. was approved by Australian regulatory authorities in May, will operate the freight hub on behalf of Ports of Auckland.
   The new facility, which will include a rail connection and container handling facility, will initially be developed on 1.4 hectares of land with the option to expand further in the future.
   Ports of Auckland has two other intermodal freight hubs in New Zealand located in Wiri, South Auckland and Longburn, Manawatu.
   “The development of Ports of Auckland’s third intermodal freight hub (or inland port as they are sometimes called) is part of a concerted strategy to invest in a network of freight hubs across the North Island to both improve options to New Zealand exporters, reduce their costs, and maintain Ports of Auckland’s position as New Zealand’s leading container port by volume and productivity,” Ports of Auckland CEO Tony Gibson said. “It also enables us to reduce excessive empty container movements and better balance the volume of exported goods with imported goods through our port.”
   In addition to the intermodal freight hubs, Ports of Auckland includes two seaports, one on the east coast adjacent to the Auckland central business district and the other on the west coast in Onehunga.