Preparing for spike in apple and pear volumes

Volumes of apples and pears
exported through the port of
Ngqura via PE Cold Storage
are expected to double
year-on-year, according to
PE Cold Storage director
George Efstratiou.
Built as one of the first
logistics warehouses in
the Coega Industrial
Development Zone, PE
Cold Storage and the port
of Ngqura started handling
large-scale apple exports for
the first time in 2013.
PE Cold Storage is
investing in capacity to
handle the growth in citrus,
apple and pear exports
through the facility.
It installed container
scales in the 2015 season in
anticipation of “the trend in
shipping to have the detailed
weight of every container
declared, and retailers of
certain countries requiring
exact weights of pallets”.
All weights are captured
and stored on the PE Cold
Storage system.
The company has also
increased the capacity of its
forced cooling/steri tunnels
by 400 pallets to bring the
total to 1 200 pallets.
It has also allowed PE
Cold Storage to adapt
to changing market
conditions.
Farmers are packing
citrus at ambient
temperature and cooling
it down in the containers
rather than pre-cooling the
fruit.
“The increase in apples
and pears has fortunately
allowed the volumes to
remain consistent,” he says.
CAPTION
Port of Ngqura
Photo: Transnet Port Terminals