Coega’s first cold storage facility gears up for 2008 opening

COEGA’S FIRST cold storage facility is under construction and is planned to be operational by March 2008. The 10 000 pallet cooling and storage store is being built by PE Cold Storage, both as part of a planned expansion but mostly to position the company for the new port of Ngqura, says director George Efstratiou. PE Cold Storage currently operates out of Port Elizabeth harbour. Growing demand will see the two facilities working in tandem until the Port of Ngqura is operational. PE Cold Storage opened its present facilities in 2002 and has continued investing in new cooling rooms and covered storage space. “We have simply run out of space where we are now,” he says. The new facility will have higher specifications than the current cooling plant and has cooling tunnels for approximately 6 00 pallets designed specifically to cater for exports to special markets in the East. For exporters and growers, the move will mean lower costs and better service. “We are strategically situated close to the Container Terminal. This proximity will reduce cross haulage costs significantly and there will also be free plug-in points for integrals,” he says. Last year PE Cold Storage provided at its own cost an additional 40 plug points in the harbour to cope with the lack of plug-in points in the PE harbour during the peak citrus season.