Overseas Cargo Statistics: Year ended June 2007

Overseas cargo statistics

During the year ended June 2007, the overseas cargo loaded (exports) and unloaded (imports) at New Zealand ports increased both in weight and in value, with the value increase exceeding the weight increase for both exported and imported cargo.

Cargo loaded for export increased 5.2 percent by weight, but 8.4 percent by value, while imported cargo unloaded increased 2.1 percent by weight and 6.8 percent by value. Increases in sea-freight led all of these rises.

Export cargo loaded

Export cargo by weight

The year ended June 2007 saw the weight of cargo loaded for export in New Zealand increase by 5.2 percent to 23.0 million tonnes. This followed three consecutive annual decreases.

An increase of 1.2 million tonnes (15.3 percent) in logs, wood and wood articles more than accounted for the total increase (1.1 million tonnes) in cargo loaded. By weight, the largest component of this group is pine logs. They made up over a quarter of total cargo exports and accounted for 82.4 percent of the total increase. Dairy produce had the next largest increase from the June 2006 year, up 13.8 percent to reach a record high of 2.0 million tonnes.

Export cargo by value

By value, year ended June 2007 was the fourth consecutive year to see an increase in cargo loaded for export, reaching a new high of $35.7 billion.

The $2.8 billion increase in value of cargo loaded corresponds with the result published in the Overseas Merchandise Trade: June 2007 Hot Off the Press. This increase was led by a rise in dairy produce, which increased by 12.1 percent to reach a record amount of $6.5 billion. Other large increases since year ended June 2006 included aluminium and aluminium articles, and logs, wood and wood articles.

Export cargo by port location (sea and air)

By weight, Tauranga remained the port to load the most export cargo, but Napier and Dunedin had the largest increases from year ended June 2006, both up about a third of a million tonnes. The two commodity groups leading these respective increases were logs, wood and wood articles, and dairy produce.

Auckland and Dunedin were the two port cities leading the increase in value of export cargo for the year ended June 2007. Dairy produce provided the majority of both increases. Despite the large weight increase in Napier's export cargo mentioned above, the value of cargo dropped slightly (down 0.6 percent).

Export cargo by sea

In the year ended June 2007, cargo loaded for export at seaports increased both in weight (5.3 percent) and value (9.1 percent). Of annual cargo exports, sea-freighted cargo made up 99.5 percent of the total weight in the June 2007 year. Since current records began, sea-freighted cargo has accounted for 99.4 to 99.6 percent of total weight in every year. By weight, logs, wood and wood articles was by far the largest commodity group to be loaded for export by sea, more than four times the weight of the next largest group, dairy produce, which was the largest by value. By value, sea-freighted cargo made up 84.9 percent of the total, back up to the level seen in 2002 (having fallen below 84 percent in three of the four intervening years).

Export cargo by air

Cargo loaded for export at airports fell 2.3 percent by weight in the year ended June 2007. In contrast, the value of air-freighted cargo increased by almost 5 percent. By weight, the most air-freighted commodity group was fish, crustaceans and molluscs. The largest contributor to this was salmon – two-thirds of all salmon exports were air-freighted. Air-freight accounted for only 6.6 percent of fish, crustacean and mollusc exports by weight, but 22.4 percent by value.

Import cargo unloaded

Import cargo by weight

The year ended June 2007 saw the weight of import cargo unloaded in New Zealand increase by 2.1 percent to 18.5 million tonnes. This follows a 5.4 percent drop in the previous year, which was the first annual decrease since year ended June 1997.

The 380 thousand tonne (2.1 percent) total increase in import cargo unloaded was led by a 130 thousand tonne (13.9 percent) increase in fertilisers. The next largest increases came from animal feeds (primarily oil cake), and inorganic chemicals. It was the sixth consecutive annual increase for animal feeds.

Import cargo by value

By value, every trade year in the last decade has seen an increase in import cargo unloaded. At $39.9 billion, cargo imports have increased 91.4 percent since year ended June 1997.

The $2.5 billion increase in value of cargo loaded corresponds with the result published in the Overseas Merchandise Trade: June 2007 Hot Off the Press. This increase was led by a rise in mineral fuels, which increased by $530 million (9.9 percent) to reach a record amount of $5.9 billion. Other large increases since year ended June 2006 included electrical machinery and equipment, and iron and steel and articles.

Import cargo by port location (sea and air)

By weight, Whangarei remained the port to unload the most import cargo (5.2 million tonnes) but Wellington and Christchurch (including Lyttelton) had the largest increases from year ended June 2006, both up over 200 thousand tonnes. However, both of these increases followed a decrease in the previous year, and neither regained year ended June 2005 levels. Mineral fuels was the commodity group leading both increases.

By value, Auckland ports unloaded more than half ($23.5 billion) of all import cargo during the year ended June 2007, up 3.1 percent on the previous year. Up $810 million (21.0 percent), Tauranga was the port to show the largest increase from year ended June 2006. However, a lesser increase of $233 million from New Plymouth was the most notable, more than doubling the value of import cargo unloaded, and exceeding New Plymouth’s previous high by almost two-thirds. Tauranga’s increase was spread across many commodity groups but was led by mineral fuels. New Plymouth’s increase was led by mechanical machinery and equipment, particularly well sinking and boring machinery.

Import cargo by sea

Of annual cargo imports, sea-freighted cargo made up 99.4 percent of the total weight in the June 2007 year. Since current records began, sea-freighted cargo has accounted for 99.1 to 99.5 percent of total weight in every year. The 2.1 percent increase in weight of sea-freighted import cargo was exceeded by a 7.4 percent rise in value. In line with comments above, fertilisers and mineral fuels led the increases in weight and value, respectively. Mineral fuels is the largest component of sea-freighted cargo imports by both weight and value.

Import cargo by air

The weight of import cargo unloaded at airports decreased slightly in the year ended June 2007, and made up 0.6 percent of total cargo by weight. In contrast, the value of air-freighted import cargo increased by almost 5 percent, although air-freight’s proportion of total import cargo by value decreased to 21.1 percent from 21.5 percent the year before. Mechanical machinery and equipment is the largest component of air-freighted cargo imports by both weight and value. The drop in weight was led by vegetables, primarily tomatoes, while electrical machinery and equipment contributed the most to the increase by value.

Air-freighted overseas cargo

As mentioned above, in the year ended June 2007, the weight of air-freighted overseas cargo decreased for both exports and imports from the June 2006 year. Over the same period, the value of air-freight increased for both exports and imports. The graphs below show how these figures have changed in recent years.

Cargo and merchandise trade

Items of export cargo that are not considered merchandise trade accounted for less than 0.1 percent of total cargo by weight, but 4.2 percent of total cargo value during year ended June 2007. In the same period, items of import cargo that are not considered merchandise trade also accounted for less than 0.1 percent of total cargo by weight, and 0.4 percent of total cargo value.

Cargo data corresponds strongly with merchandise trade data but there are differences. For example, items for loan, lease or hire are included in cargo figures but excluded from merchandise trade, while aircraft and vessels that have travelled to or from New Zealand under their own propulsion are excluded from cargo but included in merchandise trade figures. For a complete set of inclusions and exclusions for cargo figures see the technical notes of this release.