New Orleans Cold Storage (NOCS), the oldest cold storage company in North America, announced on May 29 that it will more than double the size of its existing storage space at the Port of Charleston. This expansion will include an investment of more than $14 million, of which the South Carolina State Ports Authority has approved up to a $12 million contribution to the project.
“Not only will our storage space be increasing dramatically by over 150%, but we will also be increasing our blast freezing capacity by 100%, giving us the ability to grow with the market well into the future,” said Mark Blanchard, president and ceo of New Orleans, Louisiana-headquartered NOCS. “We are looking forward to offering even more services to our clients at the Port of Charleston, where we have been for almost 30 years. This expansion will help us continue to be one of the largest logistics and cold storage suppliers to the poultry, pork, beef, seafood, vegetable and international refrigerated food industries.”
The expansion will especially benefit the import meat trade that originally brought NOCS to the Port of Charleston in 1986, particularly that with Australia, New Zealand, Central America and South America. NOCS and the South Carolina State Ports Authority each regard this growth as mutually beneficial.
“We’re pleased to be a part of New Orleans Cold Storage’s expansion, especially given the strategic importance of refrigerated cargo to our business,” said Jim Newsome, president and ceo of the South Carolina State Ports Authority. “So far this fiscal year, we’ve handled nearly 70,000 TEUs of refrigerated cargo, and we hope to see those numbers increase with this announcement.”
For over 127 years, New Orleans Cold Storage has been a provider of comprehensive logistics services for the efficient handling of time- and temperature-sensitive cargoes. Operating from four key port facilities along the southeastern seaboard of the United States and the Gulf of Mexico, the company offers a “one-stop” export process, including transportation to the port, blast freezing and warehousing, certification and documentation, plus stevedoring (loading of break-bulk vessels). It also provides services that streamline inbound shipments destined for US markets stretching from the southeastern coast and the panhandle of Florida to the West Gulf Coast of Texas and beyond.
