Fonterra announced yesterday it was reducing the volume of dairy products shipped through Timaru by 80% and through New Plymouth by 65%, while increasing shipments through Auckland, Tauranga, Lyttelton and Napier.
Nigel Jones, Fonterra's supply chain strategy manager, said it was part of a policy to focus on direct loading ports, of which Port Otago was one.
He said product from Fonterra's plants at Edendale and Stirling would continue to be shipped primarily through Port Otago, with some through South Port at Bluff.
That commitment was linked to the development of a new dry and cool store complex at North Taieri, where the bulk of goods would be transported by rail.
Mr Jones said some product previously transported through Timaru and New Plymouth was transhipped, or reloaded on to other vessels at other New Zealand ports.
More centralised shipping would give Fonterra access to a greater variety of shipping lines, he said, while also addressing pressure for shipping space.
Shipping line consolidation and an end to some services had reduced available container slots servicing New Zealand by up to 300,000 a year, which he said had put pressure on shipping capacity.
