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Georgia: Nordic Cold Storage Facility Opens for Business

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Nordic Cold Storage has opened of the first phase of a storage and blast facility located near the Port of Savannah

The site has more than 200,000 square-feet of convertible temperature-controlled storage space and is capable of blasting more than 10 million pounds of product, ranging from fresh poultry to produce, per week. This $30 million facility currently employs 150 workers. The cold storage warehouse received its first shipments this month. Nordic plans to begin work by the end of the year on a second phase, which will mirror the existing infrastructure.

"Nordic’s announcement extends the Georgia Ports Authority’s power to support Georgia’s vital agricultural industry, in particular, our poultry producers,” said Curtis Foltz, executive director of the Georgia Ports Authority (GPA). "The Port of Savannah handles nearly 40 percent of the nation’s containerized poultry exports, supplied largely by Georgia’s farms. Quality providers like Nordic will give shippers more cost effective options for moving refrigerated commodities to and from international markets.” 

Last year, the GPA saw a 3.9 percent increase in refrigerated cargo exports, totaling nearly 108,000 TEUs, or 20-foot equivalent container units. 

"Right now, we have more demand for refrigerated warehousing than we have facilities. Nordic’s commitment to build additional off-terminal freezer and temperature-controlled cold storage capacity, along with the Georgia Ports Authority’s ongoing work to expand on-terminal capacity for refrigerated cargo, will strengthen Georgia’s position in the marketplace,” said Mr. Foltz. 

The GPA’s Garden City Terminal has 64 refrigerated cargo racks online, with 20 more racks due to come on line this spring. In the last seven years, refrigerated cargo exports through the Port of Savannah have increased 130 percent. 
According to the GPA, more than 80 cold storage facilities around the state rely on the Port of Savannah. "These private investments help to grow Savannah’s market reach, to attract a greater base of cold storage commodities, and to make Savannah a hub for refrigerated cargo,” said Cliff Pyron, the GPA’s chief commercial officer. 

Workers finish construction of the racks that will hold frozen poultry inside the new Nordic facility in Pooler, Ga.
Photo/Emily Goldman, Georgia Ports Authority 
 

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