Shipping rates more than doubled in four years

The following chart, derived from data available by courtesy of Foodland Supermarket, shows that Brisbane to Norfolk shipping rates have more than doubled from around $620 per revenue tonne in 2019 to over $1250 per revenue tonne in 2023

The chart shows shipping rates for the Norfolk Guardian, Southern Tiare and Norfolk LCT respectively. It does not include the rate for the barges that serviced the island between November 2022 and July 2023, and for which the cost was off the chart, at $1,506 per revenue tonne.

In interpreting the chart it should be noted that the first case of the COVID-19 pandemic occurred in Australia in January 2020. COVID lockdowns were phased out around October 2021 and most public health restrictions phased out in Australia by December 2021.

The chart illustrates the financial pain that has been inflicted on Norfolk Island in recent years, and shows the vulnerability of the Norfolk Island economy to major upsets beyond its shores. If we make a guestimate of 12,000 revenue tonnes as the volume of ship cargo coming to Norfolk in a year, then an additional $7.85 million dollars has been taken out of the island’s economy by this means, in just over four years.

- Chris Nobbs