Here's An Idea

Photo source: Port of Tauranga

 Prompted by the current wave of industrial unrest at the Ports of Auckland,  it has occurred to me that maybe there should only be one major port in the northern half of the North Island of New Zealand  and that this should be at the Port of Tauranga.
Auckland on the Waitemata Harbour could become a freight collection centre and Auckland and the Port of Tauranga could be linked by a yet to be constructed new high-speed rail line for freight.  This line would be  a new route and would be more direct than the current route via Hamilton. This would have a number of benefits:

• it would consolidate Tauranga's position as a port and port city 
• it would mean that shipping companies could focus on one port in the north of New Zealand
• since Tauranga is more or less equidistant between Auckland and Hamilton it would draw on both cities and regions
• construction of a high speed rail link between the two cities would provide jobs for the construction industries
• Auckland City could focus on its relationship with its harbour which is in danger of being eroded as the Port indicates that it needs further land for development.

In 2011 container volumes at the Port of Tauranga rose by 15% and represented more than 40% of the Port's total trade.  Transhipped tonnage also increased in 2011 as did transhipped containers.

Information Source: Stevenson, R. (2011) Focus on container trade brings 'cracker' result for Port of Tauranga. IN Dominion Post 19 August p.C1

What do you think?

Gilbert W. Ullrich - exporter

This year one of New Zealand’s premier exporting companies Ullrich Aluminium celebrates its 50^th anniversary.   The company operates 43 distribution centres across New Zealand and Australia and exports to 23 South Pacific island nations.  It has two aluminium extrusion plants – one if Hamilton and the other in the Hunter Valley, Australia, as well as a small foundry in Dunedin.

The company is lead by CEO Gilbert Ullrich who believes that we live in an age of aluminium. Mr Ullrich has been an outstanding export leader.   He was a founder member of the Export Institute of New Zealand and participated widely in their activities – for example in their event programme for 1997 where he spoke on  The $100,000,000 issue.

He is widely regarded as a New Zealand business leader and in 2007 Gilbert Ullrich was listed as an “influencer” by Unlimited Magazine.  As far back as 1988, business writers were both writing about Gilbert Ullrich and his company and consulting him on the export trade and the economy.   For example Tom Hyde wrote an article in Metro August 1988 entitled The exporters: secrets of the new order which profiled Gilbert Ullrich and others.

One of his outstanding contributions has been to encourage international trade between New Zealand and the South Pacific.   He and his company have planned and supported trade missions to Pacific countries on a regular basis – this year visiting Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands.

He is the chairman of the NZ Pacific Business Council and his Annual Report can be read at: http://www.spasifikmag.com/nzpacificbusiness/  This gives an excellent summary of the kinds of trade activities he fosters.

This year he was appointed a member of the new Business Advisory Panel for the Auckland Council alongwith representatives of other export companies and business organisations.

 In acknowledging the company’s 50 years of success, he pays tribute to Ullrich’s 700 employees and mentions in particular the specialised export department which features multi-lingual staff. 

Photo: http://www.spasifikmag.com/nzpacificbusiness/

Sources: 

• Dominion October 29, 2011 p.B1
• Index New Zealand search (National Library of New Zealand) retrieved 22 November 2011
• http//:www.ullrich.co.nz             

              

Ceramics Exports to Australia, Canada, Japan – uncovering our trade history

 Photo: Three Colour glaze saucers by Crown Lynn.  Graeme Siddle

Last week I visited the exhibition at the City Gallery in Wellington entitled Crown Lynn: Crockery of Distinction.   Using examples of the wide range of ceramics produced, it tells the story of the Crown Lynn company from 1929 to 1989.

In the early 1930s New Zealand was an importer of porcelain, chinaware and stoneware products valued at £273, 621 from Britain (Source: The Case for Closer Trade with Britain.  ELIS: 330.993 N545).  However the Amalgamated Brick and Pipe Company Ltd run by the Clark family in New Lynn, Auckland, took advantage of the new market conditions created by the onset of war and import restrictions, and by 1946 100,000 pieces of china per week were being produced.   The Crown Lynn name which became so well known in this country was launched in 1948.

In 1961 the first case of dinner-ware was exported signalling a move into overseas markets.  In the mid-1960s Crown Lynn attempted unsuccessfully to export to the Japanese market, and investigated establishing a factory there.   Considering the high value that was placed on the ceramic craft in Japan and the high esteem in which artisans such as Shoji Hamada were held, this was an extraordinary move.   In spite of this failure, Crown Lynn’s exports doubled in 1966/67 – the main markets being Australia and Canada.  As a result of these efforts the Trade Promotion Council presented Crown Lynn with an award for outstanding effort in the export field in 1969.

The company even expanded overseas and bought the Royal Grafton factory in Stoke-on-Trent , England and began producing fine bone china.   In 1973 there was a joint venture in the Philippines called Mayon Ceramics.

Most New Zealand households had some Crown Lynn and many still do, even if it is only the cat’s saucer!  Going around this exhibition was like going down memory lane.  What was new was seeing the objects we didn’t recognise as Crown Lynn and learning about the history of a vibrant exporting company.

The lifting of import restrictions in the 1980s and opening of the market to foreign investors effectively removed the policies which protected Crown Lynn since the 1960s. In 1989 the factory closed and was subsequently destroyed by fire.

If you are an exporter, go along to the City Gallery in Wellington and see what this company achieved.   The exhibition is well organised and curated and the booklet (free) is excellent. (Information Source: Crown Lynn: crockery of distinction.  Wellington: City Gallery, 2011 ELIS: in processing)