World trade in perishable foods turns a page as Maersk Container Industry (MCI), an independent business unit in the Maersk Group conglomerate, today announced that it has begun production of the first refrigerated containers and Star Cool refrigeration machines built in South America at its new MCI facility in San Antonio, Chile.
The first trial production of these ISO standard 40 feet reefer containers were successfully delivered during the third quarter of 2015 into the Maersk Line and CMA CGM operations. Shortly thereafter, both shipping lines placed new orders. To further leverage this new value proposition, Maersk Line has secured a fixed monthly volume from the MCI facility allowing for increased agility and fast response time to the demand in the region.
Every year, more than 100,000 reefer containers are needed in Chile to cater for the large export. Including Colombia, Ecuador and Peru it amounts to approximately 300,000 reefer containers, predicts Seabury, the international shipping and transportation analyst. For many years, China has up until now been the only country with reefer container production.
For the local farmers, the close access to the Star Cool Integrated reefer technology opens up for broader market coverage and can become a catalyst for South American fresh produce exports. The Star Cool refrigeration machine is not only able to service cargo at refrigerated temperatures with the lowest energy consumption, the add-on service of the ‘Controlled Atmosphere’ system has also proven to carry fresh fruit and vegetables over extended distances, e.g. bananas, avocados, mango and asparagus.