Friopuerto, Spain, opened the doors to its new cold storage facility situated in Sines, Portugal. This facility is one of five refrigerated installations owned and operated by Friopuerto, which has facilities in Valencia, Veracruz, Sines, Tangier and soon Montevideo. The opening of the Sines facility demonstrates its strong investment commitment to temperature-controlled logistics.

The installation involves a 3.000 m²-capacity, two chilled chambers (0-18°C) intended mainly for the storage and cross docking of fruits and fresh products and a capacity of more than 1,000 pallets. Operational efficiency is ensured by a large docking area of 750 m² with eight independent docks for loading and unloading. Friopuerto, which is also said to be the only temperature-controlled logistics operator at the Port of Sines, will develop the second phase of its ambitious growth plan to double the capacity of the installation and add services for frozen products.

“The new facility at Sines is a great step forward in the strategic development of Friopuerto as a group,” says Manuel Cabrera-Kábana, director general. “The traffic of fruits and fresh produce are growing in Spain and Portugal, and Sines has an ideal strategic competing position for business, both for imports from Latin America and South Africa, as well as for exports. With difference, Sines is the most important Port of Portugal, as it already moves more than 49% of all the country’s maritime cargo, and with more than 1.33 million TEUs in 2015, is also one of the most important ports of the Iberian Peninsula.”

“In addition, we intend to strengthen and promote the maritime line between Veracruz, where we already have another refrigerated installation—Friopuerto Veracruz—and Sines for fruits and fresh products, and establish the possibility to open new lines with other parts of Latin America,” Cabrera-Kábana adds.