WASHINGTON: EASTLAND Port set a new export record for the 2015-16 year to the end of March with more than 2.3 million tonnes of cargo – mostly raw logs – sent overseas. The total tonnage of 2.302 million tonnes eclipses the port’s 2014-15 exports of 2.274 million tonnes.
“The result is a 59,000 tonne increase on the previous year’s throughput, despite uncertain indications from forestry customers earlier in the year,” said port general manager Andrew Gaddum. “The result is encouraging for the port, the forestry industry and, consequently, for the Tairawhiti region as a whole.
“The port provides vital infrastructure for a forestry industry that continues to grow and which has been the single biggest contributor to Gisborne’s GDP since 2012,” Mr Gaddum said. Of the 133 ships to dock at Eastland Port over the 2016 financial year, 113 were logging ships, reflected in the fact that 98.4 percent of total exports were raw logs.
The remaining exports were squash and kiwifruit. In addition to export vessels, 11 cruise ships visited during the 12 months to 31 March 2016. Mr Gaddum said Eastland Port was proud to be the country’s most efficient logging port. Eastland Group bought the port from Gisborne District Council in 2003 and has steadily grown export volumes — mostly raw logs — from 480,000 tonnes in 2003 to a record 2.3 million tonnes this financial year.
The port’s busiest-ever month was February this year, when a total cargo of 264,000 tonnes was exported. “We’ve worked hard with our customers and suppliers to introduce systems and processes that move logs as efficiently as possible,” Mr Gaddum said. “Every single log is barcoded, then scanned in and out, and an individual log stays an average of just eight days at the port.”
