A cold storage facility at the Edinburgh Parks industrial estate near Adelaide is expected to provide citrus and table grape producers in South Australia with direct access to export logistics.
Flinders Port Holdings (FPH) has worked with Lineage, a cold storage operator, to establish a facility registered with the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) for fruit export and cold treatment. The facility will store fresh produce destined for overseas markets.
South Australia previously did not have a DAFF-accredited cold storage site able to handle fruit and vegetables from the state's production regions. This limited export options for growers in areas such as the Riverland.
Around 90 per cent of South Australia's citrus and table grape production is exported by sea freight. Most shipments are currently routed through Victoria.
Lineage has received DAFF accreditation, allowing the facility to meet export and cold treatment requirements.
Without a DAFF-approved facility in South Australia, Riverland producers have had to move fruit to Mildura and other Victorian cold storage facilities before transport to the Port of Melbourne for export.
FPH group business development manager Richard Brine said growers were seeking ways to improve supply chain efficiency and reduce logistics costs.
"We have exporters based in the Riverland, such as Waikerie, which is two hours from Port Adelaide, who transport their produce to cold storage locations in Victoria and then move it to the Port of Melbourne via road and rail," Mr Brine said.
"Exporters are interested in using South Australia's ports, should a cold store be available. They will now be able to transport to Edinburgh in two to three hours from the Riverland, hold it in cold storage, and then ship it out from Port Adelaide, saving them transport costs and time to market.
"Transporting produce to Adelaide is more cost-effective than moving it to Mildura and putting it on a train to Melbourne. When you're competing with international exporters in global markets, every cost saving counts."
According to FPH, work on the export logistics solution for citrus and table grape growers has been underway for the past year.
Lineage recently received DAFF approval as a plant registered establishment for fruit export and cold treatment for Riverland produce destined for markets including China, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, the U.S., and countries in Southeast Asia.
"Our conservative analysis, based on our research and our discussions with many growers, is that this option could save at least 20 per cent on transport costs," Mr Brine said.
"Farmers are saying if they could save US$1 per carton, that's important to them, with further benefits in terms of cost and time savings and competing in the global market.
"We're hoping Riverland growers will see the initial benefits, and then we hope to later extend that to the Sunraysia region."
Source: DCN
