The significant growth of South Africa’s citrus exports to Asia – along with a long-established history of serving the African market – has been a key driver for Gold Star Line’s (GSL) new Far East-South Africa (SA1) service.
Gold Star Line managing director, Danny Hoffmann, told FTW that the country’s citrus fruit market was particularly important to GSL’s perishables offering.
“South Africa is the biggest exporter of citrus volumes, in excess of 300 000 tons, destined for the Asian market and market indications are that citrus exports will continue to grow,” he said. Hoffman noted that the agriculture sector as a whole was important – especially with the pivotal role that South Africa played in the highly competitive perishable goods market.
According to Hoffman, GSL uses state-of-the-art equipment and offers both steri and non-steri direct services to Asian markets – providing an efficient supply chain from farmer to consumer.
“We see rich potential in this new service as South Africa develops stronger trade links with both North East Asia and South East Asia,” he added.
