JWD InfoLogistics Public Company Limited (JWD) moves ahead to expand the business base of the Group to include investment by establishing its presence to invest in the development and management of "Bult-to-Suit" warehouses with the first being the commissioning of the first chemical and hazardous material warehouse for Crane Worldwide Logistics on a 6,000-square-metre plot of land in Navanakhon Industrial Estate, Pathum Thani Province, which is a logistically important location in northern Bangkok. The facility is expected to be completed in November 2020 and long-term income can be expected from the 15-year warehouse rental contract and 10-year management contract that would contribute to the stability of regular revenue. The plan is also in place to develop "Built-to-Suit" cold storage warehouses as a prelude to listing the assets as a trust fund in the future.
Mr. Charvanin Bunditkitsada, Chairman of the Executive Committee and CEO of JWD InfoLogistics Public Company Limited (JWD), ASEAN's recognized expert in logistics and supply chain, revealed that the Company has drawn up a policy to expand the investment side of business into one of the four core businesses in order to promote the capability to sustainably earn regular revenue in the long term, such as the revenue from rentals, revenue from warehouse management, etc. As of the present, the Company has invested in the AIMRT trust fund, and acquiring shares in Phnom Penh SEZ Plc. (PPSEZ) which is a major developer of industrial estates listed on the Cambodia Securities Exchange (CSX).
To achieve the planned goal, the Company has expanded business through investment in the development and management of warehouses that have been designed and constructed specifically to the customers' needs (Built-to-Suit warehouses), such as the design and construction of warehouses for chemical and hazardous materials, cold storage warehouses, etc., that need the experience and specialized expertise. With such a business model, the Company will be the investor in the land and construction of the warehouse buildings. Upon completion, the customer would sign a rental contract and long-term management contract. This will allow the Company to achieve regular revenue in the long term.
Most recently, JWD invested more than 160 million baht to purchase land and has proceeded to construct the warehouse in the "Built-to-Suit" model for Crane Worldwide Logistics, which is a global freight forwarder and contract logistics provider"This 6,000-square-meter warehouse has been designed specifically to store chemical products. It is located in Navanakhon Industrial Estate in Pathum Thani Province, and will store the goods for Ecolab, a global leader in water, hygiene and infection prevention solutions and services.
This warehouse is expected to become operational as from November 2020, for which Crane Worldwide Logistics has sign the warehouse rental contract for 15 years and the facility management contract for 10 years, under the budget of over 400 million baht. JWD will incrementally realize this income from the rental and facility management on a regular monthly basis throughout the terms of the contracts.
At the same time, this investment is considered to be a territorial expansion to provide warehousing services in the northern zone of Bangkok for the first time. This is considered to be an important strategic location as JWD already has warehouses in other areas such as Laem Chabang, Bangna, Suwinthawong, and Mahachai. This will be beneficial to the expansion of capacity in the logistics and supply chain services covering Upper Central and Northeastern regions.
"We have a plan in place to expand the investment side of business in the form of building warehouses for rent and to build them according to the specifications of the customers. The model includes entering into joint venture agreements to build and manage the warehouses on a case-by-case basis regularly. At present, there are new customers in the negotiation process, and these will further increase investment in the form of Built-to-Suit warehouses as well as the joint venture model with customers in the cold storage warehouse segment. As for future plans, we are looking at converting these assets into a trust fund to raise capital to be utilized in business expansion in our quest to become the ASEAN top logistics and supply chain solution provider," Mr. Charvanin concluded.
Mr. Roy Tan, Managing Director Indo-China of Crane Worldwide Logistics (Thailand)Company Limited said he has known JWD CEO for more than ten years and trusted JWD to handle this project because of a proven track of record in handling dangerous goods & chemicals management with maximum efficiency and safety.