NEW ZEALAND BUSINESS NEWS
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South Port operates the country’s southernmost port at Bluff, handling bulk cargo, containers, and primary sector exports for Southland and the lower South Island. The company has opened a new freight centre at the port, adding 4,000 square metres of warehousing for dairy exports.
The centre sits on the former Southland Coolstores site, which South Port bought and redeveloped. The building has been upgraded to meet standards suitable for storing dairy products. The extra space gives exporters more room to hold and handle dairy cargo at the port before it ships.
The investment follows a strong year for dairy. New Zealand dairy exports reached a record $28.8 billion in the year to June, and agriculture is a growth area for the port.
Total cargo volumes through Bluff rose 11.5 per cent to a record 3.96 million tonnes in the year to June. Net profit rose 21 per cent to $16.1 million over the same period.
Most of that tonnage is bulk cargo, at 3.3 million tonnes. The New Zealand aluminium smelter accounts for about 24 per cent of the port’s key volumes. Forestry is the largest primary sector export handled at Bluff, while fertiliser and stock feed bring in significant import business.
Container throughput also reached an all-time high of 62,000 TEU. TEU stands for twenty-foot equivalent unit, the standard measure of container volume. Forestry, farm inputs, fertiliser, stock feed, and containers make up most of the port’s volume.
Growing cargo and container volumes mean South Port needs more staff. The port expects to fill around 21 additional roles over the next 12 to 18 months, adding to a workforce of about 140. The port had anticipated about 20 new jobs before raising the figure to 21.
The hiring spans the work that rising volumes create, from handling and storage through to the container trade. For a regional centre the size of Southland, a lift of that scale at one employer is meaningful, and the roles are being recruited over a defined period rather than all at once.
For dairy processors and exporters in the south, the new store adds capacity close to the point of shipment. More dairy-grade space at Bluff gives exporters somewhere to hold product that meets dairy storage standards, which matters when volumes are at a record and shipping schedules move.
For businesses that supply the port, from transport operators to maintenance contractors, rising cargo and container volumes mean more work moving through the gate. The port’s own figures show the increase is concentrated in bulk cargo, led by the smelter and forestry, with containers at a high.
Fertiliser and stock feed imports also run through Bluff, so the port’s performance affects the cost and reliability of farm inputs across the region, not just exports.
South Port is also positioning for industries emerging in Southland. These include Ngāi Tahu’s Hananui marine farm, a 1,285-hectare site that has received fast-track consent. A data centre, Datagrid, is planned near Makarewa, 7 kilometres north of Invercargill.
Wind farm construction is another source of potential business. Mercury’s Puke Kapo Hau wind farm will begin building its 40 turbines next month and is expected to be fully operational by the end of 2028. Construction projects like that move heavy equipment and materials through a port, adding to the bulk cargo the port already handles.
South Port’s net profit was $16.1 million for the year to June, with cargo at a record 3.96 million tonnes and containers at 62,000 TEU.
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