ED RICHARDSON THE AUTOMOTIVE industry has received a major boost by an announcement that Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) will invest R45-million in a Container Yard Facility at the Nelson Mandela Bay Logistics Park (NMBLP) in Uitenhage. Positioned favourably, the facility will form a “triangle of opportunities” in terms of its distance to two of the Eastern Cape’s major automotive industries – Volkswagen South Africa (VWSA) and General Motors South Africa (GMSA). It is also close to Ford’s RoCam engine plant and the Coega auto cluster. “Located within South Africa’s second Automotive Supplier Park in one of the country’s automotive hubs, the facility will form a critical link in supporting the NMBLP to stimulate continued growth in South Africa’s automotive and export sectors,” said Deon Engelke, spokesperson for the NMBLP. “The container yard forms one of the critical links in the park’s logistics chain and adds tremendous value to the park concept and its tenants,” explained Lance Shultz, project co-ordinator of the NMBLP. Export-oriented companies will have the advantage of cost-savings, according to Shultz, as the facility will help ease the load at the Port Elizabeth harbour container facility and thus ensure faster turn-around times of containers. MSC Logistics has signed a 30 year conditional lease of 60 000m² of land. Construction of the container handling facility, that includes a container maintenance building and bonded area, is underway Sandra Sarno, managing director of MSC Depots, said that the company planned to be operational in January 2006. Georgi Georgiev, logistics director of MSC, said that the positioning of the facility would help reduce logistics costs and improve competitiveness.
