Two large warehouses for food and retail goods worth more than $250 million are to be built south of Auckland as supply chain strategies change to counter the pandemic.
Model of the Cardinal Logistics warehouse to be built south of Auckland. Photo: Supplied
Sorted Logistics and Cardinal Logistics are building the facilities on a 9.8ha site at Drury South Crossing.
Sorted Logistics director Kris Webster said that the "fast moving consumer goods" sector was changing from just-in-time to just-in-case, which was driving demand for storage and distribution facilities.
"Supply chain disruptions have been a hallmark of the pandemic and New Zealand businesses have adapted to this uncertainty by significantly increasing their inventories of imported and locally made goods."
"This additional demand for logistics services is then aggregated across thousands of businesses, which has seen our industry grow significantly - and our forecasts see this trajectory continuing over the coming years," Webster said.
Drury South Crossing chief executive Stephen Hughes said the site had plenty of attractions for businesses wanting large scale sites.
"Drury is one of the few remaining greenfield sites in the region where major industrial operators still have the flexibility to design warehouses to their requirements."
"The site's location is sufficiently south of peak traffic flows and for the logistics industry, there are additional efficiencies achieved with trucks not returning from out of town and going past empty."
