Logistics Warehouse Prospects Vary Across Mainland China
內地各地物流倉庫發展前景不一
內地各地物流倉庫發展前景不一
Driven by online retailers and thirdparty logistics companies, the demand for logistics facilities in the mainland is strong. However, the supply of quality modern logistics facilities is limited, and most existing logistics warehouses were only converted from dilapidated factories and do not meet international standards. In view of short supply, the average rent of quality logistics warehouses has been rising over the past few years.
Meanwhile, thanks to high-transparency business development strategies and financing of the construction and operation of modern logistics warehouses, most large-scale warehouse suppliers have developed well. Sources indicate that a Chinese private equity fund acquired Global Logistic Properties (GLP), a Singapore-listed company, in July 2017 for approximately SGD 16 billion (or USD 11.6 billion), as the largest provider of modern logistics facilities in China, Japan, the United States and Brazil. GLP also operates many logistics warehouses in the Greater Bay Area. Alibaba's logistics subsidiary, the Cainiao Network, also announced in June 2017 that it will cooperate with China Life Insurance to establish a logistics warehouse fund with a market value of RMB 8.5 billion, aiming to expand the network of smart processing and storage facilities in China.
The development prospects of logistics warehouses vary across mainland China. Guangzhou has always been the logistics centre of southern China and will have a large supply in the next few years, mainly in Conghua, Zengcheng and Huadu districts. With the recovery of global trade in 2017, the logistics industry in Hong Kong and Shenzhen has also begun to improve. In June this year, Cainiao Network announced that its joint venture company will invest approximately HKD12 billion in building a world-class smart logistics centre at Hong Kong International Airport, and help Cainiao expand and strengthen its global layout of the logistics network. In the long run, however, the development prospects of the industry in Hong Kong and Shenzhen will continue to be affected by land shortages and high land prices. In contrast, there will be increasing logistics and warehouse facilities to be seen in second-tier cities such as Foshan, Dongguan and Huizhou.
受網上零售商和協力廠商物流公司所推動，內地物流設施的需求強勁。然而，優質的現代物流設施供應有限，多數現有的物流倉庫只是從破舊的工廠改建而來，並不符合國際標準。在供不應求的情況下，過去幾年優質物流倉庫平均租金不斷上升。
與此同時，受惠於高透明度的商業發展策略及林林總總的建造和經營現代物流倉庫的融資渠道，大多數大型物流倉庫供應商發展不錯。一家中國私募基金於2017年7月以約160億新加坡元(約116億美元)收購在新加坡上市的普洛斯，它是中國、日本、美國和巴西最大的現代物流設施供應商。悉知，普洛斯在大灣區經營多間物流倉庫。阿里巴巴的物流子公司菜鳥網路在2017年6月亦宣佈與中國人壽合作，建立市值85億元人民幣的物流倉庫基金，旨在擴大國內的智慧處理和儲存設施網路。
內地各地物流倉庫發展前景不一。廣州一直是南中國的物流中心，未來數年將有大量供應，主要集中在從化區、增城區和花都區。隨著2017年環球貿易復蘇，香港和深圳的物流業也開始好轉。今年6月，菜鳥網路宣佈，由其領投的合資公司將投資約120億港元，於香港國際機場，建設世界級的智慧物流中心，從而協助菜鳥擴展及加強其全球物流網路的佈局。然而，該行業在香港和深圳的發展空間，長遠而言，會持續受土地短缺和地價過高所影響。相反，二線城市如佛山、東莞和惠州等地，物流倉庫設施則會越來越多。