Samskip strengthens its presence in South America, appointing partners in Argentina and Brazil

Samskip Reefer Logistics is strengthening its presence in South America as it continues to focus on developing its coverage of the world's principal reefer trade routes. The Icelandic company has appointed Transaltic SA to be its representative in Argentina while in Brazil, it will in future be represented by Unitrader International.

Samskip and Transaltic have been in contact for almost a year, prior to signing a formal agreement in April 2007. The Argentinean company is headed by Guillermo Japas and Rodolfo Garcia Pineiro. Both come from families with long histories in shipping to and from Argentina and established Transaltic in 1999. The company books reefer and dry cargo to and from Argentina and employs 12 people. In addition to providing NVOCC services, they are also active in warehousing, cold storage, customs clearance, road haulage and associated activities.

According to Samskip Reefer Logistics' CEO, Peder Winther, both Samskip and Transaltic are looking forward to working together, offering door to door services worldwide by linking their respective and complementary logistics systems.

Contact details for Transaltic are as follows:

Transaltic SA
Sarmiento 643, 5th Floor
C1041AAM Buenos Aires
Argentina

tel: +5411 4326 3212
fax: +54114326 0880
website: www.transaltic.com.ar.

Contact: Guillermo Japas
e-mail: g.japas@transaltic.com.ar.

Meanwhile, in Brazil, Samskip has established an agency agreement with Unitrader International.

Headquartered in Sao Paulo, Unitrader also has offices in Petrolina, Recife and Itajai. It was established in 1994 by Alfonso Castellucci as a specialised logistics provider and specialises in the shipment of fruit and vegetables, paper, plastic resins and cotton.

Contact details for Unitrader are as follows:

Unitrader International
Rua Arandu, 205 cj 701 - 7th Floor
CEP.: 04562-030 Brooklin Novo - Sao Paulo - SP

tel: +55 11 55073183
fax: +55 11 55069563

Contact: Afonso Castellucci
email: afonso@unitrader.com.br

Contact: Christiano Lucena
email: rclucena@unitrader.com.br

Mr Winther explains that Samskip is already active in Brazil, having established its own office in Salvador in 2006:

"Our customers in Brazil have been really pleased with the service we are able to provide and cargo volumes bound for Europe have risen rapidly. Our systems are now well established and with the help of Unitrader, we are ready to move up a gear, expanding our geographic coverage significantly."

Samskip's Salvador office, which will be co-ordinating all bookings, information and business development, is focusing on the fast growing tropical fruit and vegetable market, offering door-to-door service for refrigerated products. With its four offices, Unitrader will provide Samskip with access to new regions and while temperature sensitive products will provide the focus for their cooperation, both companies will also explore synergies in the movement of other commodities capable of being shipped in standard containers.

Samskip is also expanding its operations in North America and Asia while its European network now extends from Russia to Spain, Iceland to Italy. Through the integration of this extensive logistics system, Samskip's customers are being afforded access to new markets worldwide.

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