PORTS

Te Awaparahi Bay Expansion: Lyttelton Port

Lyttelton Port Company (Christchurch City Holdings) · Canterbury

A 388m deepwater wharf and 5-hectare container terminal at Te Awaparahi Bay, east of the existing Lyttelton container berths, announced in August 2026. Four ship-to-shore cranes and semi-automated gantry yard cranes lift annual berth capacity to about 850,000 TEU. Funded by debt plus about $300m of equity from Christchurch City Holdings.

Favourable signals Data: High

Delivery Confidence Score, 0 to 100, higher is better: a ranking of how strong this project's delivery signals are, not a probability. It blends eight factors, including the election risk and policy alignment shown below.

Breakdown▾

Data current as at 16 Sept 2026, when the pipeline was last checked against its source.

Key facts

Region: Canterbury
Sector: Ports
Status: Planning
Estimated value: $821m
Indicative completion: 2031
Funding status: Fully Funded
Lead organisation: Lyttelton Port Company (Christchurch City Holdings)
Election risk: Safe

Election risk assessment

Commercially funded port expansion, financed by debt and council-holding equity rather than the Crown, so it does not depend on a government decision.

Government priority alignment

MEDIUM: Commercially funded port capacity and resilience; outside the land transport GPS but consistent with its freight-resilience lens.

Recent changes

2026-W37Major New project added: Te Awaparahi Bay Expansion: Lyttelton Port (Planning, $821m).

Chronology

2026Lyttelton Port Company commits NZ$821m to the Te Awaparahi Bay Expansion and Resilience Project: a 388m deepwater wharf, 5ha container terminal and four ship-to-shore cranes, with about $300m equity from Christchurch City Holdings (August)
2031expectedTarget completion; annual berth capacity about 850,000 TEU

Source

RNZ: Lyttelton Port announces $821m expansion ↗ · ODT: Lyttelton Port to invest $821m in expansion project ↗

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