As the truck entered the warehouse, it was unloaded by workers and the cargo was placed on the floor on open platforms. After the pallet was broken down for transport by truck to various locations, the cargo was stored in an open cage, with a few pipes running overhead to supply coolant for the open space. The truck itself also had been open to the elements for much of its journey. Later, when the broken-down contents were arranged for shipment to their final destination, some were strapped on the fenders of open mopeds, which sped off into the evening.
\nWelcome to the typical \u201ccold chain\u201d storage facility in 21st century China. \u201cThis is actually a rather good storage, in our minds, because you don\u2019t see a lot of ice,\u201d said Clement Lam, director of the Hong Kong office of logistics giant John Swire & Sons, during a presentation at last year\u2019s Asian Logistics and Maritime Conference in Hong Kong.
\nIn contrast to the first facility, Lam then showed the crowd images of Swire\u2019s Shanghai facility \u2013 \u201cthe tip of the arrow\u201d of Swire\u2019s cold-chain network, Lam said \u2013 which was a well-lit, secured warehouse with completely sealed storage units for various ranges of temperatures, some as low as -18\u02daC, and a wide staging area maintained at temperatures ranging from 0\u02da to 4\u02daC. \u201cApart from the protective gear that you see people wearing, you really don\u2019t recognize that this is cold storage,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is a U.S.-style concept that we brought to China.\u201d
\nWith more than 60 years of experience in the cold-chain business, Swire is currently the third-largest cold storage operator in the world, Lam said, and one of their fastest growing markets is China. Swire Cold Chain Logistics now operates five facilities in China, located in the cities of Guangzhou, Shanghai, Langfang, Ningbo and Nanjing, with three others under development in Xiamen, Chengdu and Wuhan. One of the company\u2019s major priorities is to eradicate conditions like the outdated facility described above, and raise China\u2019s cool-chain infrastructure to world-class standard. It seems like a long uphill climb, however.
\nStill, the payoff of these efforts will likely be worth the toil, thanks to China\u2019s enormous potential for growth in pharmaceuticals. Asia\u2019s share of the global perishables market grew from 13 percent in 2006 to 20 percent in 2015, with pharma making up only about 18 percent of that perishable market. From this low base, pharmaceuticals that require cold-chain care have seen a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.7 percent over the last 10 years, compared to 4.4 percent CAGR for the entire Asian perishables market during the same period, according to a report by the research firm Seabury Group. Most of this temperature-sensitive pharma traffic passes through China.
\nWhile the biopharma market is still considered to be in its infancy in China, the potential is astounding, said Yvonne Ho, the International Air Transport Association\u2019s (IATA) general manager for Hong Kong and Macau. Global spending on cold-chain logistics is expected to reach US$16.7 billion by 2020, making it one of the fastest-growing sectors in air cargo. Leading most of this growth will be China, which Ho named as the number-one country in the world\u2019s top 21 emerging \u2013 or \u201cpharmerging,\u201d as she termed it \u2013 pharmaceutical markets.
\n\u201cWhen Asia and other parts of the world use pharmaceuticals at the same rate as Europe and North America, the total market should be three times larger than it is today,\u201d Ho said.
\n\u201cSo I\u2019m not surprised when [Swire] said many years ago that we want to develop this business in China,\u201d Lam said. \u201cChina is a very, very important market for cold-chain logistics.\u201d
\nSource: aircargoworld<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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