Golden Bay Cement switches cement transport through Northport

Golden Bay Cement has started shipping cement directly out of Northport, supporting Northland’s economy.

It is using Northport’s container lifting capability and a newly-introduced fortnightly coastal shipping service to improve the way it moves cement powder from its plant in Portland, near Whangarei, to its domestic New Zealand distribution hubs.

Fletcher Building’s Building Products Chief Executive David Thomas says: “We are really excited to be able to now send our cement through Northport, which means more direct business for Northland.”

Since starting shipping out of Northport in late September last year, the cement factory, which is based near Whangarei and is New Zealand’s only cement factory, is working up to moving about 11% of its overall production to the South Island in this way.

Using Northland’s port to shift cement was made possible by a $30 million investment in the factory’s facilities as part of the factory’s centenary celebrations last year, including a new silo capable of taking the necessary containers.

GBC Winstone Head of Cement Paul Thorn says: “We distribute cement to the southern half of the South Island in tanks that are based on a 20’ container footprint; colloquially know as ISO Pods. Each pod carries a minimum of 23 tonnes of cement. We have approximately 700 pods in total that are in circulation between Portland and the South Island, which are carried by a flat deck truck between the plant and port. Portland has only had the capability to fill these tanks with the commissioning of Silo 9, as we required sufficient head height for the truck and tank to enter under the silo for filling.”

“Prior to Portland having Silo 9, the cement was shipped directly from our Portland dock to Auckland where ISO Pods were filled from our Eastport facility. So we were effectively double handling the cement for the South Island through Eastport. Now we fill these pods in Portland and a shipping service to Lyttelton has been established from Northport. So this initiative has improved handling efficiencies, and redirected this business to Northland.”

GBC Winstone, owned by parent company Fletcher Building, also uses its chartered ship MV Aotearoa Chief, to make over 60 voyages each year directly from the cement plant near Whangarei to distribution centres in Auckland, Tauranga, Napier, Wellington, as well as expanded services to New Plymouth and Picton.

Media please contact:

Ellie Martel
External Relations Manager
Fletcher Building
+ 64 27 807 2933

About Golden Bay Cement

Golden Bay Cement is New Zealand's largest cement manufacturer and supplier. With a full suite of cement products tailored to New Zealand conditions and backed by a proven history, Golden Bay Cement has a real commitment to the future of the New Zealand Construction Industry and the future built environment.

Our manufacturing plant is situated in Portland, 10kms south of Whangarei and our main support office is located in Central Auckland. We have seven service centres located around NZ, in Auckland, Tauranga, Napier, New Plymouth, Palmerston North, Wellington and Picton. 

Golden Bay Cement employs a team of 200 people throughout New Zealand to deliver a complete range of cement products, technical expertise and proactive support to customers around the country.

About Fletcher Building

At Fletcher Building our vision is Building Better Together – and this unites our 20,000 people who work in 35 different businesses across more than 40 countries around the world. We manufacture and distribute high quality building products and we build and deliver homes, communities, commercial buildings and major infrastructure projects. At every step our business starts and ends with the customer, and we take great pride in the work we achieve together.