Coolport @ Changi

 On-airport facility dedicated to handling perishable cargo opens



 


SINGAPORE : Singapore has opened the first on-airport facility in Asia dedicated to handling perishable cargo.

The facility, built at a cost of S$16.5 million, is owned by gateway services and food-solutions provider SATS.

Thanks to its ability to better process and forward perishable cargo such as fresh produce and pharmaceuticals, Coolport is expected to create new trade flows through Singapore.

The facility is currently about 60 per cent utilised, and is expected to reach full capacity in two years.

SATS is currently in discussions with customers that could see utilisation reach 80 per cent by mid-2011.

Packing fresh-cut flowers for redistribution is one of the valued-added services that is offered at Coolport.

It is now possible because temperatures are controlled throughout the warehouse, which - depending on the produce - can be as low as minus 28 degrees celsius.

This means products are kept at desired temperatures virtually from the moment they are offloaded from the plane, and through various stages of handling. SATS previously handled perishable cargo in 17 cold rooms located across four warehouses. A dedicated facility allows the processing of fresh produce and other cargo for onward shipment, either by air or sea.

Clement Woon, president and CEO of SATS, said: "In the old way, you actually have to take it off the airport, repack it so that it can go into this small little chiller...It is not really efficient and a lot of working spaces are at an ambient temperature and our ambient temperature is at 30 degrees or so. Now the ambient temperature is at 6 to 10 degrees.

"Maybe about 20 per cent to 30 per cent of food never reaches the table because it is destroyed along the cold chain. (We are) hoping that by putting this thing together, we will be able to reduce the amount that will be destroyed in the logistics process."

Coolport's operator SATS said it had refurbished one of its warehouses to build the facility.

This was in order to tap growth opportunities in the perishable-goods segment, amidst declining volumes in general cargo.

SATS said perishable cargo makes up about 10 per cent of worldwide air cargo, and is expected to grow by up to 8 per cent every year.

Mr Woon said: "Unfortunately over the last few years, cargo in Singapore has come down, so we actually take the opportunity to reconfigure this terminal into a perishable handling unit. So that helps to actually bring back some of the capacity, and optimise the other areas."

The facility comes online just months after the opening of Freeport in May, a similar facility at Changi Airport that specialises in the storage of valuable art and assets.

Lim Hwee Hua, Second Minister for Finance and Transport, and Minister in the Prime Minister's Office, said: "These new innovative on-airport facilities will allow our valued partners in the airlines and air freight industries to develop more comprehensive and differentiated business solutions that target new market segments, as well as to tap on the rapid growth of Asia.

"The growth of Asia as a key healthcare market has also resulted in greater requirement for stringent control in the distribution of healthcare products. With these changing demand patterns and new requirements, reliable cold chain facilities and perishables handling centres are becoming increasingly important."

While SATS expects the new facility to have a positive impact on its bottomline, it declined to speculate on a figure.

Mr Woon said: "This will be incremental. We are realigning our resources into our central facility; that will give us the capabilities as we work on the new accounts that will let us go up to 80 per cent.

"We will be able to then take that incremental into the bottom line. I will not say how much it is at the present moment, but certainly, it will be a positive impact when we actually have reached that capacity level that we have planned."

Coolport has about 8,000 square metres of space, and can be expanded through conversion to 14,000 square metres. It will be able to handle 250,000 tonnes of cargo a year, for a start.

- CNA/ms

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporebusinessnews/view/1095753/1/.html