CWT EXPANDS REGIONAL OFFERINGS

Logistics Asia, 1/3/2008

CWT has taken one more step towards its goal of becoming a top global player with the opening of an S$80 million (US$58 million) logistics facility in Singapore. CWT's Logistics hubs 1 and 2 feature enhanced storage facilities and specialized-materials handling capacity, for a combined area of nearly 93,000 square meters of warehouse space.

Located close to port terminals, the facility emphasizes energy-efficient principles, using natural lighting and ramps instead of cargo lifts. CWT Director and Group CEO Loi Pok Yen is confident that such strategies give the company a distinctive competitive edge. "This translates into a savings of S$0.16 per square foot per month," he explains. Loi adds that in more land-intensive countries like China and Vietnam, CWT buildings will be constructed as single-storey units to further improve energy efficiency.

The second phase of the logistics hub is only expected to be completed by January 2009, but already the entire facility has been leased by three to four clients. Chemical giant BASF, CWT's largestclient, has leased half of the facility.

With such a niche in chemicals logistics, CWT says that it has less than 10 competitors globally. Other clients include DuPont, ISP and Stahl.

CWT is looking to capture an even bigger share of the US$250 billion global 3PL market. In his speech, Lim Hng Kiang, Minister of Trade and Industry put Asian logistics growth at a blistering 10 to 15 percent - twice the global growth rate. In 2007, logistics and supply chain management accounted for9.4 percent of the Singapore's GDP.

Last year, Singapore was rated as the top logistics hub by a World Bank shipping survey. Loi says the country should "keep doing what it's been doing" to retain that ranking; but he admits there will be limitations: "There is a physical constraint - we don't have unlimited coastline." Nevertheless, he says that CWT is in constant dialogue with the government agencies EDB and IE, and PSA. "I think they know what they're doing," reassures Loh. "One good thing about Singapore is that they usually plan quite farahead."