Construction work for CMA CGM’s new multi-temperature warehouse at DP World London Gateway has started.
Eric Legros, CMA CGM Vice President Specialised Products and Value-Added Services and Jean Vanmalle, Business Development Manager Inland – Supply Chain & Logistics joined DP World executives for a ground-breaking ceremony at DP World London Gateway’s Logistics Park.
CMA CGM has taken a long-term lease on the build-to-suit development, which it will occupy through its international freight forwarding and logistics solutions subsidiary. The warehouse is sited on a 2.5-hectare plot adjacent to DP World London Gateway’s deep-water port on the River Thames with main road access to London.
Readie Construction has been appointed to carry out the building works and DP World London Gateway will project manage the base-build, which will be completed by April 2019. Upon completion, the CMA CGM Group will take occupancy and fit-out the building.
This state-of-the-art facility, fitted with best-in-class technology, IT traceability and management systems, represents a major milestone for the CMA CGM Group’s strategy to develop a global range of products.
Alongside chilled and frozen chambers to handle a large variety of temperature-controlled products, this unique cold store will allow CMA CGM to offer its customers a wide range of added-value services, in addition to CMA CGM’s sea-freight offering, such as product quality control, packing, sorting, labelling, palletisation and bagging. It will also offer customs clearance, shunting (transfer from the quay to the warehouse) and delivery transportation (last-mile delivery).
This new and modern cold store will combine several types of work and expertise in a single place for a more efficient and reliable customer experience.
The CMA CGM Group, the world’s second largest carrier of reefer containers with a fleet of 385,000 TEUs and 288,000 Reefer plugs, is currently bringing cargo through DP World London Gateway Port on seven services. This includes large numbers of refrigerated containers arriving from the Caribbean, Australia, New Zealand, India and South America.
This development and growth of CMA CGM’s reefer volumes ties in with DP World London Gateway’s ability to deliver time and cost savings, as well as reduce waste and carbon use through a one-stop-shop logistics solution that will increase product speed-to-market and reduce haulier mileage.
The port, which is among the fastest growing in the world, is handling large numbers of refrigerated containers arriving from all over the world. It uses more than 1800 ‘reefer’ points, a weather-resilient, automated container stacking system, custom-built inspection facilities and a service for shunting containers between the port and its neighbouring Logistics Park.
Eric Legros, CMA CGM Vice President Specialised Products and Value-Added Services said: “We’re very pleased to see work start on this important development for the CMA CGM Group. We’re excited about seeing the building rise from the ground over the coming months – and, once it is completed – to work with our customers and with DP World to deliver a unique range of value-added services and make sure their goods receive the best care all along their journey.
“We are very much reaffirming our commitment to our customers by placing their needs at the centre of the Group’s development as part of Rodolphe Saadé’s Customer Centricity strategy.
“It is clear that there is a need to deliver quality services that are sustainable and increase the speed at which products reach their destination. Drawing on the expertise that the CMA CGM Group has developed over the course of the past 40 years, we will be able to deliver on those needs through this exciting new venture.”
Chris Lewis, UK Chief Executive Officer, DP World, said: “DP World London Gateway’s combination of a reliable, efficient port, with international rail terminal and Authorised Economic Operator status – all plugged into a network which links more than 100 ports in 60 countries – on the same site as a flexible, scalable Logistics Park, enables logistics providers to bring different parts of the supply chain into one location; a location which sits just 25 miles from Central London, the largest consumer market in Western Europe.
“And that is exactly what the CMA CGM Group is doing here now. This development on the Logistics Park is complementary to the rapid growth of the port which celebrates its fifth anniversary in the coming weeks. As terminal operations continue to gather momentum and grow fast, it is pleasing to see forward-thinking logistics companies moving now to capitalise on the opportunities which exist here.
“Over the course of the next few months, we will see another two-and-a-half hectares of the Logistics Park transformed into the CMA CGM Group’s temperature-controlled warehouse and logistics services facility, an offering that will significantly increase supply chain efficiencies and add value.”
