During the first quarter, the total trade at Port of Tauranga has gone up. And experts believe that the same trend will continue during the rest of the year because of the strong forestry exports coupled with more containers.

At the annual general meeting, the company said to its shareholders that it is optimistic about the current financial year and expects the finances to improve.

Said Chief executive Mark Cairns, that the trade through port was up by 10 per cent while the container volumes zoomed up by 25 per cent. This is much higher than last quarter when the figures were at 10 per cent.

Analyst forecasts show that the annual earnings of the port will be between $51-$53 million. This is much higher than what it had actually shown during same period last year.

Forecasts also show that for year June 2100, earnings after tax will be higher than last year when it was at $49.4 million. A jump of 9.3 per cent as compared to last year's profit.

But the fears are that the port company is going to see recovery which will be slow and patchy.