'Close-to-port' warehouse embarks on massive cold storage expansion

A Durban logistics company
has embarked on an expansion
project to grow its cold storage
facilities to meet growth in
the citrus export market and
the stringent storage controls
needed to fight blackspot.
Evette de Beer, co-founder of
of Sprint Logistics, an SMME
with a 32 0000-sqm multipurpose
warehouse located
2km from the port as well as a
further 10 000-sqm facility in
Richards Bay, said the company
was developing the project in
two phases.
De Beer said the warehouse
had an 8500-sqm area
allocated to cold storage that
was dedicated to citrus for six
months of the year and the
company was about to embark
on phase two to expand its cold
storage facilities.
“Phase one has space for
3000 pallet positions of
commercial storage at four
degrees celsius, and stage
two will have an additional
three commercial chambers
of 650 pallets each and 15
steri-tunnels with 600 pallet
positions. The Airlock area is
also under cooling so it doesn’t
break the cold chain once
received,” she said.
De Beer said the chambers
allowed for varying
temperatures to accommodate
different requirements for
food products, ranging from
cheese to citrus. Goods are
under 24-hour CCTV camera
surveillance.
“We have included 54
plug in points in the yard to
accommodate the reefers
should there be any delays in
the port during shipments. The
steri-programme will take fruit
to -0.5 degrees celsius for the
sterilisation of the fruit because
of blackspot in South Africa,
which has resulted in quite a
drastic increase in demand for
steri-chambers,” she said.
This and the entire cold store
operation will be run under the
watchful eye of experienced
operations manager Donovan
Kanni, who has 25 years of
cold store experience and more
importantly expertise in steri
operations.
According to figures released
recently by the Citrus Growers’
Association, 115.7 million
cartons of citrus have been
shipped so far in the 2015
season, up from 111.5 million
cartons last year.
De Beer said the undercover
warehouse included sections
for food grade, general and
bonded cargo – and because
of its close proximity to the
Durban Container Terminal,
transporters could move in and
out easily to drop off and collect
containers.
“We are trying to eliminate
bottlenecking by grounding
all containers. We are very
fortunate because we are just
outside Maydon Wharf so we
aren’t as congested and we have
a large yard and a multipurpose
warehouse to accommodate
large volumes and many
different types of commodities,”
De Beer said.
“The yard space is 13
500sqm for containers, cargo
and trucks with a railway
siding,” she said.
General manager Abdool
Sheik said the warehouse
provided a multi-purpose
solution for freight and
forwarding clients engaged in
local and cross-border trade
and handled transportation,
bagging and debagging of
products, consolidation,
containerisation, and
documentation.
Sheik said the ownermanaged
company focused on
reducing costs to clients, many
of them blue chip corporates,
with a hands-on approach for
swift decision making to meet
deadlines and reduce red tape.
Sprint Logistics was founded
in Richards Bay in 2006 where
the 100% BEE company’s focus
is on bulk cargo at its 10 000-
sqm warehouse that handles
salt, steel, minerals and any
other bulk cargo.
CAPTION
Sprint Logistics director Evette de Beer and general manager
Abdool Sheik in the company’s 32 000-sqm warehouse which
is about to be further developed to create additional cold
storage capacity to meet citrus export demand.