Kotahi, Maersk sign second long-term freight agreement in New Zealand

Kotahi, New Zealand’s containerised freight manager and A.P. Moller – Maersk, a global integrated logistics company, signed a second long term freight agreement to December 2034.

“The magnitude of this agreement is big, even by global standards, with an estimated NZ$160 billion (US$97 billion) value of primary export products given greater certainty and capability around delivery to market,” says David Ross, CEO, Kotahi.

Ross adds: “Global supply chain disruptions, from pandemic, geopolitical and climatic events are becoming the norm. An ongoing freight partnership, with Maersk, will provide New Zealand’s international trade with resilience and agility to navigate these issues into the future. The long-term agreement provides our shareholders, and exporters on our platform, with a backbone shipping network for reliable services to key export locations. During the peak of the Covid-19 disruption, Maersk was the standout carrier in choosing to bring additional vessel capacity and containers to New Zealand, which grew the capacity pie for the whole export market.”

A decade ago, Kotahi and Maersk embarked on a collaboration with the purpose of providing greater reliability to New Zealand ocean logistics, focusing on New Zealand exporters’ needs. Ten years later the results are in, together the partnership has shipped 1.8 million TEU (23 million tonnes) of New Zealand cargo to market, the majority being primary industry exports including dairy, meat, seafood, horticulture and forestry, according to the press release from Maersk.

Vincent Clerc, CEO, A.P. Moller-Maersk adds: “Over the past decade, our collaboration has been instrumental in providing reliable and efficient ocean logistics solutions for New Zealand exporters, and we anticipate sustaining this momentum and further advancing our shared objectives in the years ahead.”

Together with Maersk’s carrier network, Kotahi managed Fonterra’s record export shipments without the need to use more expensive, non-containerised freight options, says the release.

Anna Palairet, COO, Fonterra adds: “Despite significant pressure on global supply chains over the past few years, Fonterra and many other New Zealand companies, have been able to keep products moving. We’re looking forward to seeing what this next decade of partnership between Kotahi and Maersk brings.”

In February 2024, Maersk made its biggest infrastructure investment in New Zealand by opening a NZ$140-150 million (US$85-90 million) state-of-the-art cold-storage facility in Ruakura.