Maersk inaugurates new cold storage in Cape Town, promoting South African citrus and grape exports

On October 28, Maersk officially launched its Belcon cold storage facility in Cape Town, South Africa, marking a significant step in the company's over $100 million investment plan in South Africa's cold chain infrastructure, which will promote the export of South African citrus and fresh grapes.

It is reported that South Africa's cold chain logistics is highly unstable, with logistics delays and cold chain disruptions causing losses of up to 1.5 billion rand (approximately 620 million Chinese yuan) annually to the South African grape industry. South Africa urgently needs to strengthen its cold chain infrastructure to minimize losses and enhance the competitiveness of local exporters, and the Belcon cold storage facility was built to fill this critical market gap.

With the launch of the Belcon cold storage facility, Maersk now operates three cold storage facilities in South Africa: Belcon in Cape Town, Cato in Durban, and PreCool in Johannesburg. The Belcon cold storage facility has 32,000 pallet positions, is located near the ports of Cape Town and Durban, and is connected to both rail and road networks, enabling seamless intermodal transport. It also has a container yard, facilitating efficient cargo handling.

Image source: Maersk 2025 International Fruit and Vegetable Report. All rights reserved. For reprints, please contact the International Fruit and Vegetable Report and credit the source as the International Fruit and Vegetable Report.