General Motors South Africa will start construction on a R220m ($21.3m) pan-African parts distribution centre (PAPDC) in February. It will be situated in the Coega Industrial Development Zone (IDZ), near the newly-operational Port of Ngqura, and has been described as the first and biggest investment in automotive logistics there.
It is the third facility to be built in Zone 1 of the IDZ, which is dedicated to logistics, and is scheduled for completion in the second quarter of 2010.
The 38,000m2 centre will replace various parts and accessories operations in Port Elizabeth and will serve 147 of GMSA’s existing dealers and wholesalers. It will also serve neighbouring countries including Kenya and Nigeria, as well as growing number of export customers.
The centre will employ 90 workers relocated from the existing parts and accessories sites around Port Elizabeth.
As well as the Port of Ngqura, the distribution centre will be near GMSA’s recently-opened vehicle conversion and distribution centre (VCDC) in the Aloes Industrial Park, close to Markham Township. The VCDC has two workshops for conversion and upfitment, which will be supplied by the parts distribution centre once it is operational.
Logistics providers for GMSA include Safcor Panalpina and UTi Sun Couriers.
GMSA has signed a 12-year contract with the Coega Development Corporation (CDC), which operates the IDZ, with an extension clause for a further 12 years, and another five after that.
“We are proud that the Coega IDZ is now at a stage where it can service such big tenants, thanks to the work we have done over the last few years,” said Khwezi Tiya, Executive Manager for Business Development at the CDC. The Coega IDZ has secured R30 billion ($2.9 billion) worth of signed investors since its inception in 1999.
The automotive industry accounts for 7.1 per cent of South Africa’s GDP.