South Port Nz

What South Port Nz does

South Port New Zealand Limited operates New Zealand's southernmost commercial deepwater port from a 40-hectare man-made Island Harbour at Bluff, on the southern tip of the South Island. Founded in 1988 following the dissolution of the former Southland Harbour Board and listed on the NZX (ticker: SPN) in 1994, the company runs 24/7, 364-day operations serving the Southland and Otago regions. Environment Southland, a regional government entity, holds a 66% majority stake, making South Port a state-controlled publicly listed port operator. The company is the only Southland-based entity listed on the NZX.

The port's service portfolio spans core marine services (pilotage, towage, berthage), a container terminal with 560 dry and 105 reefer slots managed via the proprietary Jade Master Terminal (JMT) web platform, cold and dry warehousing across eleven cargo sheds, a Syncrolift vessel lift facility, project-cargo handling supported by two Liebherr Mobile Harbour Cranes (LHM 400 and LHM 550) with 100-tonne lift capacity, and a dedicated wharf at Tiwai Point servicing Rio Tinto's NZAS aluminium smelter. An off-port Intermodal Freight Centre in Invercargill, established in 2016 adjacent to the KiwiRail railhead, extends the inland reach. Operations are supported by ISPS Code and Maritime Security Act 2004 compliance and MPI Approved Transitional Facility status for container devanning.

Revenue is generated on a transaction-fee basis from cargo throughput, vessel calls, and storage/warehousing subscriptions. Key customer verticals include aluminium (NZAS Tiwai), forestry and wood products, agriculture and dairy, fisheries, regional imports (fuel, fertiliser, cement, stock food), and project cargo (wind farm components, mining equipment, transformers up to 122 tonnes). In HY26 (half-year to December 2025), operating revenue reached NZD 34.75 million (+17.6% YoY) on 1.99 million tonnes of cargo handled (+17.8% YoY), with net profit after tax of NZD 8.45 million (+46.8% YoY). GTM is direct B2B via shipping lines, exporters, and importers; marketing is largely limited to a real-time shipping movements dashboard, port conditions feed, and NZX investor relations.

Name

South Port Nz

Legal name

South Port New Zealand Limited

Website

https://southport.co.nz

Company type

Public

Founded year

1988

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

South Port New Zealand Limited operates New Zealand's southernmost commercial deepwater port at Bluff, providing pilotage, towage, cargo handling, container terminal, storage, and marine services to shipping lines, exporters, and importers across the Southland and Otago regions.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Port Operations and Marine Services

NAICS

Port and Harbor Operations (488310), Marine Cargo Handling (488320), Support Activities for Water Transportation (4883)

SIC

Water Transportation (4400), Ship & Boat Building & Repairing (3730)

akta.pro primary industry

Stevedoring & Vessel Loading/Discharging (Ship-to-Shore Operations) (TLAHALAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Terminal & Shipyard Towage (Intra-Port/Facility Moves) (TLAHAHAI), Dry Docking & Dockyard Operations (Graving/Floating Docks, Docking Services) (TLAHAMAA)

Keywords

• Port operations
• Marine services
• Container terminal
• Cold storage warehousing
• Project cargo handling

Headquarters

HQ city

Bluff

HQ country

New Zealand

HQ region

Oceania

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Port Services Revenue: Revenue generated from pilotage, towage, berthage, cargo handling, and storage services provided to shipping companies, exporters, and importers. Services include container terminal operations, cold storage, dry warehousing, project cargo handling, and marine services.
2. Storage and Warehousing: Revenue from providing cold storage, dry warehousing, and leased storage facilities. Eleven cargo sheds and cold storage available for temporary or permanent lease arrangements.
3. Cargo Throughput Revenue: Revenue from handling cargo volumes including bulk, break bulk, containerised, and project cargo. The company reported 1.99 million tonnes of cargo volumes in HY26 with 17.8% growth.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

South Port operates New Zealand's southernmost commercial deepwater port at Bluff, providing a full range of marine services (pilotage, towage, berthage), container terminal operations, cold and dry warehousing, project cargo handling, and vessel maintenance via a Syncrolift facility. The port serves Southland's export and import industries including aluminium, timber, fisheries, dairy, meat, wood chips, cement, alumina, fertiliser, and petroleum products, handling over 3.4 million tonnes of cargo in a normal trading year.

Product overview

South Port NZ operates as a multi-service port terminal offering a unified platform of port operations built around its core Island Harbour infrastructure. The product portfolio comprises Marine Services (pilotage, towage, berthage) and Container Terminal as foundational offerings, complemented by storage and cargo handling modules including Cold Storage, Dry Warehousing, and Project Cargo with heavy-lift capabilities. Additional services include the Intermodal Freight Centre for rail-road distribution, Syncrolift for vessel maintenance, and a real-time Shipping Movements Dashboard. All services are delivered from the 40-hectare man-made Island Harbour at Bluff, New Zealand's southernmost commercial deepwater port.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Marine Services Provides pilotage, towage, and berthage services for vessels at the Island Harbour, with 24-hour security-manned causeway access and compliance with ISPS Code and Maritime Security Act 2004 requirements.
• Container Terminal On-site container terminal with 560 dry and 105 reefer slots (expandable to 200 total reefer capacity), using Jade Master Terminal for tracking and managing containerized cargo with container wash, devanning, reefer pre-trip inspection, plugging and monitoring services.
• Cold Storage Open pallet storage facilities for frozen products, with No. 2 stores able to function as cool storage, serving the fisheries and food export industries. Available for temporary requirements or leased on a more permanent basis.
• Dry Warehousing Eleven steel portal cargo sheds with partial concrete walls and aluminium cladding, providing storage with good road access near wharf aprons for temporary or permanent lease arrangements.
• Intermodal Freight Centre Off-port facility established July 2016, strategically located adjacent to KiwiRail railhead in Invercargill, facilitating competitive cargo movement via rail and road for Southland and Otago regions.
• Project Cargo Handling Specialized handling of heavy and over-dimensional cargo including transformers up to 122 tonnes, wind farm materials, and mining equipment, supported by two Liebherr mobile harbour cranes (LHM 400 and LHM 550) with 100-tonne lifting capacity each, plus thorough risk assessment and traffic management planning.
• Syncrolift Vessel Lift Facility Vessel lift facility for ship maintenance and repair operations with hardstand area, requiring advance booking and compliance with specific safety and operational protocols. Charges based on schedule of charges with water and power billed separately.
• Pilotage Services Compulsory pilotage for vessels over 500 gross registered tonnes and/or 40m length, with guidelines for safe vessel entry and exit based on size, weight, and draft. Available 24 hours.
• Port Infrastructure and Berths 40-hectare man-made Island Harbour with multiple berths, including dedicated wharf at Tiwai Point for Rio Tinto's aluminium smelter and town wharf for petroleum industry, supported by plant and equipment including mobile hoppers, weighbridges, and pneumatic unloaders.

Quantifiable outcome

• Record interim profit with 46.8% increase in net profit after tax to NZD 8.45 million in HY26
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration2 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• KiwiRailcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 July 2016South Port established its Intermodal Freight Centre (IFC) in July 2016, strategically located adjacent to the KiwiRail container transfer yard in Invercargill. This partnership enables competitive movement of cargo via rail and road, creating more efficient access for containers in the Southland and Otago regions.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• Port of Auckland: Operator of Auckland's commercial port, the largest container terminal in New Zealand. Directly comparable as a NZ port operator handling containers, bulk, and cruise, though significantly larger in scale.
• CentrePort Wellington: Wellington-region multi-purpose port providing container, bulk, and ferry services. Directly comparable as a New Zealand regional port operator with similar cargo handling mix and government-linked ownership structure.
• Lyttelton Port Company: South Island NZ port operator (formerly NZX: LPC) serving Canterbury at Lyttelton. Directly comparable as a competing South Island port with container terminal, bulk handling, and intermodal connections into regional hinterlands.
• Northport (Marsden Point): Northland-based NZ port serving forestry, fuel, and bulk cargo. Comparable as a regional NZ port with similar customer profile (forestry, energy) and infrastructure scope including dry bulk and liquid storage.
• Napier Port Holdings: Listed NZ port operator (NZX: NPH) on the East Coast of the North Island. Closely comparable as a mid-sized NZX-listed port handling containers, bulk, and forestry exports - directly relevant for valuation, governance, and operational benchmarks.
• Eastland Port: Regional NZ port at Gisborne handling forestry exports, containers, and bulk. Comparable as a smaller-scale, single-site NZ port operator with strong forestry/log cargo mix similar to South Port.
• Port of Tauranga: New Zealand's largest port by container volume (NZX: POT), operating the Port of Tauranga. Directly comparable as a listed NZ port operator providing marine services, container terminal, bulk cargo handling, and intermodal logistics - the closest scale and listing peer for South Port.
• PrimePort Timaru: Timaru-based South Island NZ port handling containers, bulk, and breakbulk cargo. Comparable as a directly competing South Island port serving a regional agricultural hinterland with similar scale and service mix.

Broad incumbents

• International Container Terminal Services (ICTSI): Philippines-based global container terminal operator with terminals across Asia, the Americas, Europe, and Africa. Comparable as a publicly listed global port operator that competes for international shipping line volumes, providing scale benchmarks and operator-level comparables.
• DP World: One of the world's largest port terminal operators, headquartered in Dubai and operating container terminals globally. Comparable as a broad incumbent port operator providing marine services, container handling, and logistics at scale.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about South Port Nz