News / CJ Logistics bids to raise $602m for fulfilment centre expansion plan

Credit CJ Logistics.

South Korea’s largest logistics company, CJ Logistics, plans to raise up to $602m to construct fulfilment centres in metropolitan areas to respond to growing demand for parcel transport, with more people buying goods via e-commerce.

CJ Logistics will raise around $201m in cash with Samsung SRA Asset Management, with the remaining $401m to be borrowed from financial institutions.

Samsung SRA raises funds through establishing investment trusts and inviting funding from institutional and retail investors.

“Financial investors can expect high returns by investing in the flourishing logistics real estate market amid the e-commerce boom,” said CJ Logistics.

As more people work from home amid the Covid-19 pandemic, they are doing more shopping online and CJ Logistics plans fulfilment centres that handle storage, inventory management, packing and delivering parcels to metropolitan areas, including Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggi province. No timeframe was given for completion of the facilities.

In contrast to general delivery services that use sub-terminals and take two to three days, fulfilment centres directly send packages to the hubs and deliver them in one day.

CJ Logistics wants to grow its e-commerce market share by offering new last-mile delivery services that guarantee faster and more accurate package delivery to customers.

The company currently has two fulfilment centres in Gyeonggi province, one for cold chain in Yongin and a ‘smart’ centre in Gunpo, which uses artificial intelligence and logistics robots to process parcels.

To hear more about e-commerce, try the The Deep Dive 2 Podcast, 2022.

Clip 2 The importance of warehousing to e-commerce success – Cathy Roberson, president of Logistics Trends & Insights