A new 99.2 million Rand ($7.3 million) state-of-the-art cold storage facility has been opened within the Dube TradePort Special Economic Zone at Durban’s King Shaka International Airport in South Africa.
The iDube Cold Storage Facility will cater to the growing demand in chilled and frozen perishables storage within the region. It will initially cater to meat importers servicing local retailers as well as exports of dairy, fruit concentrate and citrus to markets in the European Union and the Far East.
The 4,500 square metre facility has capacity to handle 8,600 mobile pallet positions, which can store up to 12,000 tonnes of perishables. In addition to this, it is also equipped to provide a number of ancillary services that include weighing, sorting, repackaging, order picking, and container plug in of products as well as providing distribution and logistics solutions.
KwaZulu-Natal MEC for economic development, tourism and environmental affairs, Sihle Zikalala who opened the cool chain facility, says it is a great example of the work of government in its continued efforts to support the development of industries that enhance the effectiveness of the value chains throughout the economy.
He adds: “From production to processing, it is essential that we provide healthy and highly competitive business operating environments, which will present new opportunities for both established and emerging enterprises.
“To date, we have been successful in attracting 1.5 billion Rand in private sector investment, through various developments within Dube TradePort Special Economic Zone, with a further 4.25 billion Rand in investment that is in the immediate pipeline for developments are to be located within the second phases of Dube TradeZone.”
The new facility is funded in part by KZN Growth Fund a public entity that is under the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs. KZN Growth Fund provided 63.4 million Rand in funding towards iDube Cold Storage to help establish one of the largest multi-temperature cold storage facilities in KwaZulu-Natal.
iDube Cold Storage chief executive officer, Tebogo Mogapi says: “We are grateful to Dube TradePort, the KZN Growth Fund, the IDT and indeed the province of KwaZulu-Natal for giving us the opportunity to establish our company within this Special Economic Zone and for their continued support throughout the construction phase of the iDube Cold Storage Facility.”
