Holcim New Zealand officially opened its new cement terminal at the Port of Timaru on Thursday.

The facility includes a 30,000t storage dome – a first for New Zealand – and has unloaded two ships since December, according to local press reports.

The Port of Timaru terminal provides Holcim access to the major market of Christchurch, utilising the silo capacity completed in January 2014 at the Lyttelton Port of Christchurch. It also provides distribution to the whole of the South Island market as well as the lower North Island.

The company's aim is for 18 in-bound ships a year to Timaru with the Holcim-owned Milburn Carrier II shipping out-bound orders from its berth at the reconstructed No 2 wharf.

The opening ceremony was held in the presence of the New Zealand’s economic development minister, Steven Joyce, and Member of Parliament for Rangitata, Jo Goodhew.

Another Holcim terminal in Auckland is under construction and on track to be opened by mid-2016, the report added.