As big questions hang over the country’s ports, new data shows the port of Auckland closing in on Tauranga in terms of the value of goods exported.
The Statistics New Zealand (SNZ) figures for the year ended June show the value of exports through Auckland rising 14.6 per cent ($830 million) to $6.5 billion, while Tauranga increased 2.8 per cent to $7.3 billion. The gap between the two nearly halved from $1.36 billion to $729 million.
Tauranga stayed far ahead of other ports in the weight of goods exported, but its lead was eaten into.
Volume through Tauranga dropped 3.3 per cent to 6.1 million tonnes, while Auckland picked up 12.3 per cent to 2.2 million tonnes.