Agility hitches its wagon to Changi air cargo hub

Kuwait-based Agility has acquired a 177,000-square-foot warehouse near the Changi International Airport, upping its Singapore warehouse space to 600,000 square feet. The acquisition is the company’s fifth warehouse in the country, as Singapore expands and upgrades its port and airport infrastructure to strengthen its position as a global logistics powerhouse and one of Asia’s top e-commerce markets.

Agility says the expansion will allow it to offer more services, including automated quality inspections, a container-management e-system, a large-scale recycling program for packing materials and enhanced warehouse management systems, along with regional data back-up and business-continuity features. Increased warehouse space also will allow Agility to enhance its testing, assembly, configuring, labelling and packing.

Mykell Lee, CEO of Agility’s Singapore office, said the US$18.25 million investment underscores the company’s belief in Singapore’s centrality to the world’s transportation and shipping. Airfreight throughput at Changi increased by 6.3 percent in 2016, compared to 2015, to a new high of 1.97 million tonnes.

Airfreight throughput at Changi grew across imports, exports and trans-shipments. Perishables and pharmaceuticals performed especially well. The top five global markets for airfreight traffic were China, Australia, Hong Kong, the United States and India.

“In an expensive market like Singapore, customers want service innovation,” Lee said. “For our fashion and retail customers, for example, we’re also the ones tagging goods with price and security labels, managing reverse logistics, promotions, and warehouse and atrium sales.”

Those interested in learning more about airfreight in 2017, should join us at Cargo Facts Asia in Shanghai, 25 – 26 April.  To register, or for more information, go to CargoFactsAsia.com