SATI plans R35-m depot in Durban

Ray Smuts
SOUTHERN AFRICA Transport Investments (SATI) plans to develop a container depot of similar size to its Cape Town facility near Durban.
That's the word from SATI managing director Brett Gray, who told FTW that the intention was to have the R35 million development up and running by July.
That the A. P. Moller Group, through SATI, is intent on owning and operating container terminals in Southern Africa is a matter of record, and if SATI's track record at Killarney Gardens near Cape Town is anything to go by it was R45 million well spent.
"The value of our investment in Cape Town has been well proven and our expectations exceeded, particularly with this latest reefer season where volumes were very high. Quite frankly, we don't know what we would have done without our own depot," says Gray.
Turning out close to 3 000 containers a month (the figure for February), we were struggling to support the
business and had that happened with a third party depot it would have been almost impossible to control."
The SATI Cape Town operation was opened a year ago with the initial two phases being implemented simultaneously to make provision for 60 000sq m of space.
Another 10 000sq m will be added in the next month or so, allowing for 5 500 containers to be stored, and Gray enthuses that if things continue as swimmingly as they are at present, further space will have to be made available.
So well has it gone at Killarney Gardens - 30% better than the initial projection - that virtually all business has been with customers of A.P. M¿ller, Maersk Sealand and Safmarine.
The intention had all along been to get the depot up and running smoothly before even considering taking on third party business. "Only now is that starting to come through but we are targeting certain players; we don't want hundreds of small customers but rather those with reasonably large volumes going through."
On the immediate future, Gray comments: :"The key issue facing us is what happens with the phasing out of portholes, how much gets converted into integrals and breakbulk.
"The trend seems to be towards integrals and that will mean good business from an A.P. M¿ller point of view, but it's going to put SATI under strain.
"Even though phase three expansion has been approved, we are already looking at phase four which would entail increasing the number of pre-trip inspection towers and closer scrutiny of repair facilities."
Gray is clearly pleased as punch at the "world class" turnaround of 24 hours - it was upwards of 36 initially - achieved by SATI's 75-member team under general manager Imtiaz Mahomed Ally.
Land clearing has already started for SATI's first Natal depot at Southgate Industrial Park about 20km south of Durban.