The Mount Maunganui industrial zone is crucial to the economic success of the Western Bay of Plenty and our country’s trade ecosystem. Many businesses in the area are investing in initiatives to improve environmental impacts, such as traffic congestion, air pollution and odour, to support a healthy co-existence between community and business.

The Mount Maunganui Industry Environmental Accord has been signed by 30 businesses within the industrial zone. It commits businesses to take up to five actions each, over the next three years, to measurably reduce environmental impacts.

A positive change that’s been made by three companies within the industrial zone has shown the power of collaboration. IXOM and Stolthaven (both signatories to the Accord), along with Quantem, have worked together to create a pipeline for sodium hydroxide (also known as caustic soda). It runs from Stolthaven to IXOM and has removed the need to transport the chemical in tankers down Tōtara St. This has resulted in 260 less tanker trips (404km) in 2024.

The businesses

IXOM is an industry leader in chemical sourcing, manufacturing, distribution, storage and use, with a heritage spanning more than 100 years. It has been on Tōtara St since 1965 and employs 90 staff at that facility, and operates a further five manufacturing sites across Aotearoa New Zealand. For companies like IXOM, proximity to Port of Tauranga is critical due to the large quantities of bulk chemicals it imports by ship.

Stolhaven Terminals (owned by Stolt Nielson) is the world’s largest operator of chemical tankers, providing storage for bulk liquids as well as door-to-door transportation. It’s also a pioneer in high-tech sustainable seafood production.

The Stolthaven facility at Port of Tauranga is designed for the receipt and load-out of bulk chemicals, and vegetable oils and tallow from marine tankers at Port of Tauranga. The products are stored and loaded out to road tankers. Tallow is brought to the terminal in road tankers, stored and then exported by ship.

Quantem offers independent bulk liquid storage and handling throughout Australia and New Zealand. The range of products stored in Mount Maunganui include chemicals, fuels, vegetable oils and tallow.  

The backstory

Half the national supply of imported liquid sodium hydroxide arrives via the Port of Tauranga, with 13% going into food production, and 47% into cleaning (such as dairy factory cleaning), and 40% in other industrial uses, such as wastewater treatment and pH control. Road tanker transfer between Stolthaven and IXOM was required due to infrastructure limitations at IXOM.

The improvement

In 2019, an idea formed to use pipeline transfers instead of road tankers between Stolthaven and IXOM. It required the help of Quantem, which has to swap out a section of pipe, redirecting the sodium hydroxide to IXOM.

In 2022, a business case and funding was approved, followed by a HAZOP (Hazard and Operability) study in early 2023, to review potential risk. Later that year, Stolthaven installed transfer pumps and piping to allow pumping of sodium hydroxide to IXOM via Quantem. In February 2024, the first pipeline transfer was completed.

The outcome

In 2024, 5,770MT of sodium hydroxide was transferred by pipeline instead of road tanker, resulting in 260 less road tanker trips down Tōtara Street (404km). (IXOM says it expects roughly the same level of pipeline transfers in the future, as this market is very steady.)

This has meant a reduction in diesel truck greenhouse gas emissions, a modest improvement to Tōtara Street congestion, and has proved the theory that product can be transferred within the precinct, without the use of road transport.

This demonstrates the power of three industrial operators working together. It’s also worth noting that Quantem and Stolthaven are competitors in the bulk storage space, so their collaboration shows a high level of commitment to making improvements.

“As a supplier to IXOM, we were very keen to see how we could add value to our service and strengthen our partnership. The direct pipeline option has proven to be a great success story on ‘thinking outside the square’ and adding value from both an environmental and risk management perspective,” says Brent Metson, Stolthaven General Manager.  “We will continue to work with IXOM to refine and improve this process going forward.”

Austin Brooks, IXOM Head of Regional Manufacturing, New Zealand, agrees the collaboration involved in the project is encouraging: “IXOM has a continuous-improvement mindset. The pipeline transfer project, in partnership with Stolthaven and Quantem, is an excellent example of industry working together to collectively improve. Long may this continue!”

Priority One will continue to report on other notable progress in the industrial zone, so to keep up to date with these stories, along with other news on sustainability, innovation and infrastructure, sign-up for our fortnightly newsletter here.