AfriSam is poised to increase its market share in the Eastern Cape with the opening of a third rail to road depot in the province this one in Markman Industrial, Port Elizabeth to supplement the company’s existing depots located in East London and Queenstown. The new depot, efficiently serviced via its own rail siding, incorporates a 1 000 ton bulk cement silo capacity and a 3 600 ton bag holding capacity. “Historically we’ve enjoyed a very strong presence in the eastern side of this province, supplying these areas from our Ulco plant in the Northern Cape via the two rail to road depots,” Grant Neser‚ AfriSam sales and marketing executive‚ says. “This allows us to take advantage of the cost effective rail rates down to the depots, allowing AfriSam to focus on the last leg by road.
“Although we could have serviced the western area of the province directly from Ulco or via East London, after looking at all the options it was found that the most cost effective way to provide the quality service we want to offer in this area would be with another fully-fledged rail to road depot. The 1,8 ha site has been sized to ensure we have a significant amount of bulk capacity to support customers who use bulk cement in the vicinity of Port Elizabeth. At the same time, we’ve increased our bulk capacity in both East London and Queenstown to entrench security of supply in the province.
“The establishment of a depot in Port Elizabeth also allows us to provide the level of service expected from a cement supplier of choice. We intend to capture a significant share of the market in the Port Elizabeth area through our commitment to superior quality and service excellence,” Neser says. “This has traditionally been a market dominated by a single supplier and our arrival offers local customers more choice. We’re confident that we will compete favourably in this market with our quality products, a highly responsive sales team, skilled technical support team and reliable supply infrastructure.”
The Port Elizabeth depot supplies AfriSam’s 52,5N High Strength Cement in bulk, as well as bag products that include AfriSam All Purpose Cement and the specialist road stabilisation product, AfriSam Roadstab. The new depot’s trading hours are from 07:45 to 16:30 from Monday to Thursday and from 07:45 to 15:30 on Fridays. Product and pricing queries will be answered through AfriSam’s dedicated customer care line 0860 141 141.
NEW PE DEPOT PIC 01 : The establishment of a depot in Port Elizabeth allows AfriSam to provide the level of service expected from a cement supplier of choice.
NEW PE DEPOT PIC 02 : The newly established AfriSam Port Elizabeth depot, situated in the Markman Industrial Park, occupies a 1.8 ha property that incorporates a 1 000 ton silo capacity and 3 600 ton bag holding capacity, as well as a rail siding designed to accept both bulk and bag deliveries.