Second container yard for Coega IDZ

A second logistics company linked to a shipping line has decided to open a container yard in the logistics zone of the Coega Industrial Development Zone. MSC Logistics has announced plans to build a R50-million container depot on 8.7 hectares of land in the Coega IDZ. The company currently has a container depot in the Nelson Mandela Bay Logistics Park in Uitenhage, which is largely dedicated to supporting the neighbouring Volkswagen plant. APM Terminals – part of the Maersk Group – opened a container depot in the Coega IDZ in September 2012. With larger ships increasingly being deployed on the Cheetah service, MSC has been able to move more West African-related cargo to the Far East along its southern route, using the port of Ngqura as the transhipment hub. According to MSC Logistics director Mervyn Padayachee, the depot will act as a logistics hub for the transport division of MSC South Africa. It will include a reefer inspection, washing and packing facility. He says the establishment of the container park closer to the Port of Ngqura than the Uitenhage facility will help reduce container movements and intermodal costs, and enable the company to have a better response rate to the demands of freight distribution activities. Other warehouse and logistics-related investments in the Coega IDZ include a General Motors facility serving the company’s operations in Africa, PE Cold Storage largely for citrus exports, and UTi Distribution. Construction is in progress on a R32-million expansion for Digistics Logistics, with new buildings for Vector Logistics [R130million] and ID Logistics worth R53m, according to Coega Development Corporation spokesperson Ayanda Vilakazi. INSERT Construction is in progress on a R32m expansion for Digistics Logistics. – Ayanda Vilakazi CAPTION Coega Development Corporation spokesperson Ayanda Vilakazi.