Consolidation of minerals for export is big business at SACD

It’s been a busy start
to the year for logistics
major SACD Freight – and
warehousing capacity
is one of the biggest
challenges for regional
director Dennis Trotter.
A key area – and
one which has shown
incremental growth over
the years – is consolidation
of minerals from Africa.
“Africa is very big for
us on the export side,”
Trotter told FTW. “While
we don’t operate in Africa,
we have major customers
on the continent for whom
we provide landside logistic
solutions, consolidating and
containerising minerals for
transport to the port.
The company currently
has 33 000 sq m of
warehousing space under
roof at its City Deep
operation which is running
at near capacity.
Last year was a difficult
one for many in the
industry, particularly on
the import side.
A significant change,
said Trotter, was the
speeding up of Customs
clearance thanks to the
roll-out of the Customs
modernisation programme.
For SACD, its Customs
licence has traditionally
been a big part of its
business, and the new
business landscape has
called for new areas
of focus.
“We’re looking at new
product lines and expansion
where things are working,”
said Trotter.
“One of the advantages
of SACD is its flexibility.
We are able to model
solutions for specific
customers like the motor
industry which requires
Just In Time deliveries
for its production line –
staging containers and
delivering them in the
correct order.
“Because we have access
by road and rail with a full
suite of lifting equipment
on site and the capacity to
handle full containers and
stage for import and export,
we have an edge in niche
markets,” he told FTW.
“The challenge is to
expose more of these niche
markets and capitalise
on them.”
For now the company
is keeping its plans under
wraps.