The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business
By Riza Lozada
Global logistics firm Royal Cargo Inc. recently broke ground for the construction of its P1.2-billion solar-powered Cargo City North Hub on Plaridel Bypass Road, Bulacan province, as part of its capacity expansion in the Philippines.
Similar to its Cargo City South Hub in Laguna province, the multipurpose facility will have a cold storage, a dry warehouse, and a container freight station to serve the demand for efficient distribution channels in Mega Manila, Northern Luzon, Clark, Subic and the Central Plains. The Cargo City North Hub is expected to be completed in mid-2018.
“The Philippines has definitely seen significant growth in export and import activities over the years, translating to rising warehousing and distribution needs. By helping Philippine firms keep up with the increased and further increasing number of orders, our new warehouse facility will help drive operational sustainability across supply chains,” said Michael Raeuber, group CEO of Royal Cargo.
The new warehousing hub will adhere to international green building standards and will feature eco-friendly construction materials, including solar panels.
“Royal Cargo is committed to developing world-class, ecofriendly logistics facilities in the Philippines, which has the potential to become a major logistics hub by 2020. Our new Bulacan facility will not only help companies expand their business reach across the Philippines, but also allow them to reach new markets in Asia Pacific without incurring large capital expenses,” said Elmer Sarmiento, president of Royal Cargo.
Aside from the Cargo City North Hub, Royal Cargo has also invested in heavy trucks for industrial projects; reefer containers and vans for their cold chains; 600-ton crawler and 500-ton mobile Liebherr cranes; a 3.6-hectare property with a 9,000-square-meter covered warehouse in Cordova town, Cebu province; and a ship for their domestic sea freight operations. It operates several dry warehouses with various position capacities across the Philippines and two cold storages with around 15,000 pallet positions.