SACD to almost double warehouse capacity

SACD Freight has embarked on
a major expansion drive in Cape
Town that will see warehousing
space almost doubling as it relocates to a
new facility.
The company’s lease on the existing
site terminates in January 2011 and work
has commenced on a 20 000m2 highracked
warehouse on 7.6 hectares of
new land in the Transnet National Ports
Authority industrial site adjacent to
the harbour.
“We’ll focus on food grade exports with
a strong IT system component backing it,”
managing director Graham Peinke
told FTW.
The idea was always that TNPA
would take over the SACD property and
incorporate it in the container terminal,
according to Peinke.
The food grade export focus will fit
well with the company’s growth in the
wine export market – as well as canned
goods and fruit juices.
“Some 18 000 teus of wine are exported
annually. We take about 6% of it and it’s
a market that has shown phenomenal
growth – from 25 million litres in 1992
to 309 million litres currently, which is
why SACD believes that its R165 million
investment will be well spent.”
The company is also keeping a close
watch on developments at Coega where
it has been in talks with the Coega
Development Corporation with a view to
setting up a new operation in the region.
But it’s early days and along with many
others SACD is adopting a wait and see
attitude before making the investment.
Its PE facility is currently kept busy
as the sole handler of beer imports into
the country until the opening of a new
brewery in March next year – and even
then it expects to continue importing some
beer and other products.
The company’s Durban facility has also
reached a point where existing premises
are fully utilised and it has been looking
for expansion opportunities.
“We’ve been in discussion with TNPA
for a few years on finding new ground
close to the container terminal. While
nothing has materialised, the slump in the
market has taken some pressure
off,” says Peinke. “We thought that by
2010 we would need new premises
but this may have shifted out by a
year or so.”