New iDube Cold Storage facility unveiled at Dube TradePort

8th August 2017 By: Creamer Media Reporter

The new, multipurpose R99-million iDube Cold Storage facility has officially opened in the Dube TradePort Special Economic Zone (SEZ), in KwaZulu-Natal.

The 4 500 m2 facility, which has the capacity to handle 8 600 mobile pallet positions and store up to 12 000 t of perishable product, will cater to a growing demand for chilled and frozen perishables storage within the region.

The facility, which will employ 80 workers once at full capacity, will initially cater to meat importers servicing local retailers, as well as exporters of dairy, fruit concentrate and citrus to markets in the European Union and the Far East.

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.

The iDube Cold Storage falls under the umbrella of the Department of Trade and Industry’s Black Industrialist Programme, with the KwaZulu-Natal Growth Fund providing R63.4-million in funding towards its development.

The Dube TradePort SEZ had, to date, attracted R1.5-billion in private sector investment, through various developments, with a further R4.25-billion in investment in the immediate pipeline for developments in the zone’s second phase.