Cold chain volumes in southern Africa are rising as capacity improves and the sector attracts more investment.
Marco Grobbelaar, general manager at Independent Beira Logistics Terminals and Services (IBLT&S), reports a notable increase in volumes along the Beira corridor.
Competitive landside operations and ocean freight rates compared to surrounding ports are key factors driving this growth.
Import volumes of fertilizers and high expectations surrounding them also play a significant role in this expansion.
“IBLT&S now offers 30 reefer connection points, with two dedicated areas in our expansive 130,000 square meter yard for these operations,” Grobbelaar said.
“Currently, our focus is on handling frozen imports destined for Zambia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.”
For exports, IBLT&S emphasizes providing seasonal supply chain solutions for products like citrus and avocados.
This includes ocean freight logistics, where products are either transported in ambient conditions to Beira for packing, monitoring, clearance, and export, or packed in reefers at the farm, transported to Beira, stored, cross-packed at IBLT&S, and then exported.
Grobbelaar noted that the biggest challenge remains equipment availability. “There is still a shortage of controlled atmosphere (CA) containers for these products,” he said, indicating that despite increased investment, more is still needed.
