Netherlands-headquartered logistics specialist NewCold announced on 16 September the completion of a major capacity expansion at its Truganina cold-storage facility in Melbourne. The A$240 million upgrade lifts pallet capacity by 35 % and cements the site as the company’s Asia-Pacific headquarters. CEO Bram Hagoort said Australia “played a pivotal role in NewCold’s global development” and confirmed that up to 40 senior managers from Europe and the US will rotate through Melbourne on assignments of six to 24 months. Most will arrive on Temporary Skill Shortage (subclass 482) visas before transitioning to permanent residency under the Employer Nomination Scheme. The expansion coincides with McCain Foods extending its long-term warehousing contract, a move expected to boost export volumes of frozen potato products to Asia. Victoria’s government has offered payroll-tax rebates for staff relocating to regional Victoria—an incentive NewCold plans to extend to spouses under the partner visa program. For mobility practitioners the project illustrates continued appetite for Australia as a regional logistics base, notwithstanding tighter migration settings. Companies should anticipate intensified competition for state nomination quotas in Victoria and consider priority processing streams for supply-chain executives. NewCold also revealed it will pilot a ‘digital arrival’ program, using Australia’s forthcoming Travel Declaration to pre-clear arriving technicians, reducing airport dwell time to under 20 minutes once the system is fully operational in 2027.
Source: NewCold
