Limpopo Consolidation Centre awarded Tzaneen rail siding by Transnet
Flying Swans is happy to announce the successful award of the Tzaneen site to our development consortium by Transnet after the conclusion of a public tender adjudication. This will allow for the process to finalise the agreements with Transnet that will lead to the construction of and the commencement of operations of a cool logistics facility in the province of Limpopo through the registered company called Limpopo Consolidation Centre or LCC.
LCC is an investment vehicle for the rehabilitation of the Tzaneen rail siding and the construction of a cold storage facility. It will service the agricultural export producers in the Tzaneen and Letsitele regions in the Limpopo Province of South Africa. LCC participated in an open competitive process or tender for the award of the site in Tzaneen for the development of rail-based logistics solutions. LCC was selected by Transnet as the preferred bidder, and this will enable expedited progress to be made in the investment and development of the facility.
LCC will construct a cold terminal and storage facility capable of the cold sterilization requirements for the different supply regions like the European Union, the Far East and the United States of America. A minimum total of 6,000 pallet spaces of cold treatment facilities will be created. The proposal and commitment towards the localised facility was greeted with great excitement from the citrus and avocado exporters in the region and most export volumes have been committed to the facility for future processing.
Artist Impression Limpopo Consolidation Centre
The rail-based solutions will entail the construction of the rail container terminal with the empty container stacking area and container preparation area adjacent to the cold storage facility. Provision is also made for a loaded reefer container stacking area with continued power supply to the reefer containers until it is loaded on the trains.
The investments will make it possible to use rail to move the export fruit from Tzaneen to the export ports (Durban, Nqura, Cape Town and Maputo). Rail reduces the land-based CO2 emissions by up to 90% and will create lower cost and lower risk for the exporters of fruit. LCC will enable both large export producing farmers as well as smallholders, who will receive access to export markets, to jointly benefit from the development.