In-transit offering boosts African business

Taking advantage of “huge opportunities” in Africa, Woods Warehousing has expanded its business offering to Mauritius, Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo. “The limited infrastructure in sub-Saharan Africa often calls for road transport and as a result offers further business opportunities, particularly for our bonded facilities,” said managing director Pieter Joubert. According to Joubert, bonded storage is mainly used for goods-intransit for re-export, which means that the importer is not obligated to bring VAT and Customs duties to account for the period that the goods are in storage or in-transit. He pointed out that the facility currently received high volumes of abnormal cargo to and from South African ports headed to or from other African ports. “We act as an en-route or in-transit facility for those goods,” said Joubert. He told FTW that the specialist warehousing company, with its large bonded facility, had set itself the goal of becoming a preferred ‘in-transit’ service provider. “We are offering a bonded facility in Gauteng of up to 10 000 sqm with a wide range of general storage – from shelving and racking to caged storage,” said Joubert, adding that the size of the respective storage options was f lexible and could be extended according to client specifications. The company offers separate warehouses as well. Woods Warehousing specialises in bonded facilities for large-scale and abnormal consignments and offers indoor and outdoor heavy lifting facilities – ranging from 10- to 30- and 50-tonne cranes. “Bonded storage will remain an essential component for importers and Wood’s Warehousing is in a position to offer a sustainable service in response to market demand,” said Joubert. INSERT & CAPTION We are one of the only companies in Gauteng to offer such a large bonded facility. – Pieter Joubert