Grindrod opens R200m terminal
GRINDROD, the listed integrated logistics service supplier, has officially opened a new R200 million state-of-theart intermodal terminal in Denver in Johannesburg.
The 130 000m2 industrial development is Grindrod’s largest intermodal facility and was built over the past three years on a site once featuring a mine dump, now flattened.
It consists of 18 000m2 of undercover warehousing; a 27 000m2 full container stacking area; 35 000m2 of mining mineral yards; a 35 000m2 empty container stacking and maintenance yard; 15 000m2 of transport facilities; and 1 500m2 of offices.
Chief executive of integrated logistics at Grindrod, Andrew Sturrock, said yesterday a further R12m would be invested to develop the rail siding at the terminal capable of accommodating daily block trains.
Sturrock said this would provide the opportunity to convert container volumes from road to rail, while reducing costs in the logistics supply chain.
He said the rail siding was expected to be completed by December this year.
Sturrock said Grindrod had consolidated its existing intermodal facilities in the new terminal to create a transport hub connecting markets from as far as Zambia, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Botswana and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to Maputo in Mozambique, and Richards Bay and Durban.
He said Grindrod had leased a number of premises for its intermodal facilities from Transnet on land adjoining City Deep but had returned them when it moved all the facilities into the new terminal in April.
Grindrod had before had “a bit of a silo approach” to its facilities but all the group’s divisions were now integrated and talked to one another to provide a fuller end-to-end solution to its customers.
Sturrock stressed that the new terminal was not competing with Transnet but complemented the transport parastatal.
“With fluctuating commodity prices, reducing costs in the supply chain and creating efficiencies is imperative to promote trade.
“Over-border customers now have the option of delivering goods destined for foreign markets to Gauteng. This allows for a quicker turnaround of trucks, saving time and increasing efficiency.
“Commodities are then stored at these facilities before being packed in containers and delivered to Durban for shipment,” he said.
Grindrod owned land adjacent to the new terminal, which would allow it to further expand the facility.
However, Sturrock said, the reduced commodity market meant there was additional capacity at the new terminal, which had also been built with “capacity for the future”.
The terminal would handle 1million tons of containerised cargo and more than 100 000 containers a year. It also provided employment for more than 100 people.
The new terminal created a significant number of new jobs, with 2 500 contract construction workers employed over the three years it took to build the facility.
New jobs
Sturrock said new permanent jobs were created at the terminal because the 18 000m2 of warehousing was much larger than Grindrod had had before. The far bigger footprint also meant increased security.
Grindrod Intermodal is one of the largest intermodal operators in Southern Africa, with more than 500 000m2 of infrastructure, assets exceeding R700m and a team of more than 630 employees.
Grindrod shares on the JSE yesterday lost 3.9 percent to close at R13.80.