Asia-Pacific Cold Chain Logistics Market Size, Share, Competitive Landscape and Trend Analysis Report by Business Type, End-use Industry, Product and Technology : Regional Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2020-2027

Asia-Pacific Cold Chain Logistics Market Statistics - 2027

The Asia-Pacific cold chain logistics market was valued at $68.32 billion in 2019, and is projected to reach $133.97 billion by 2027, registering a CAGR of 11.7%.

Cold chain is a combination of temperature-controlled surface transport and supply chain. Cold chain logistics refers to the freezing solutions required to maintain the quality and shelf life of products such as fresh agricultural produce, seafood, frozen food, photographic film, chemicals, and pharmaceutical drugs. Cold chains are essential for extending the period of marketing, avoiding over capacity, reducing transport bottlenecks during peak period, and maintaining the quality of products. The process involves the utilization of temperature-controlled warehouses for storage and cold insulated transport vehicles for product distribution. Cold chain logistics solutions are widely used to transport and store fruits, vegetables, meat, beef, medicines, and drugs. Transportation modes used are refrigerated trucks, refrigerated railcars, refrigerated cargo, and air cargo. The cold chain industry plays an important role in reducing the wastage of perishable products and commodities, thus providing remunerative prices to farmers. In the pharmacy industry, cold chain logistics increases the efficacy of the drug throughout the supply chain.

Factors, such as increase in number of refrigerated warehouses and development of the pharmaceutical sector, are expected to drive the growth of the cold chain logistics market. In addition, growth in the processed food sector is anticipated to act as a key driver of the market. However, factors, such as lack of standardization pertaining to operating procedures, security, temperature, pest control, and high operational cost, restrain the market growth. On the contrary, availability of RFID technologies for cold chain applications and adoption of automated software for cold chain logistics are projected to offer lucrative growth opportunity for the market players.

The Asia-Pacific cold chain logistics market is segmented on the basis of business type, end-use industry, product, technology, and country. Business type is bifurcated into cold storage and cold chain transport. Cold storage is further segmented into refrigerated warehouse and automated warehouse. Cold chain transport is subdivided into roadways, railways, waterways, and airways. Depending on end-use industry, the market is categorized into fruits & vegetables; bakery & confectionary; dairy & frozen desserts; meat, fish, & sea food; drugs & pharmaceuticals; and others. On the basis of product, it is classified into refrigerators and air conditioning. By technology, it is segregated into air blown and EUTECTIC. Country-wise, the market is analyzed across Japan, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, China, Australia, and the rest of Asia-Pacific.

The key players operating in the cold chain logistics market are AIT Worldwide Logistics, Inc., CJ Rokin Logistics, CWT Pte. Limited, JWD InfoLogistics Public Company Limited, Nichirei Logistics Group Inc., OOCL Logistics Limited, SCG Logistics Management Company Limited, SF Express, United Parcel Service, and X2 Logistics Networks.

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Increase in number of refrigerated warehouses

Several warehouses comprising cold chain systems are designed to ensure the ideal storage and transportation conditions for temperature-sensitive products. Multiple export industries are dependent on the vital links that cold chain solutions provide. Businesses invest millions of dollars in their cold chain operations to create effective, efficient, and reliable processes as an end-to-end cold chain security is the weak link in the system. Single breakdown in the cold chain logistics supply chain can lead to catastrophic losses of products and capital. Moreover, the number of refrigerated warehouses is increasing, owing to surge in demand for food and pharmaceuticals products. Therefore, increase in refrigerated warehouses is anticipated to boost the growth of the cold chain logistics market. In 2018, cold chain storage capacity of India was around 25%, followed by China and Japan with 17% and 6%, respectively of the total global cold chain storage capacity. In addition, increase in need for effective cold chain logistics services to maintain the quality of goods fuels the growth of the market.

Development of the pharmaceuticals sector

Pharmaceuticals manufacturers increasingly focus on the product quality and sensitivity. Factors, such as development of complex biological-based medicines and shipment of hormone treatments, vaccines, & complex proteins that require cold chain refinements, result in need of temperature-controlled transportation and warehousing. Temperature-controlled logistics of pharmaceutical products and medical devices is a significantly growing part of the healthcare logistics industry. In the COVID-19 health crisis, cold chain logistics plays a vital role for the pharmaceutical sector while increasing concern toward health is expected to support the growth of the Asia-Pacific cold chain logistics market. Majority of the healthcare companies are expected to transform their global supply chain strategies as to the COVID-19 pandemic led to many unavoidable changes in the business ecosystem. Furthermore, during the COVID-19 vaccine transportation, temperature control became a priority for governments, health insurance, national media, and social care services. Moreover, increase in need for effective cold chain logistics services to maintain the quality of goods fuels the growth of the market. In addition, the entire cold chain supply chain and logistics for the pharmaceutical industry is becoming more strategic and reliable. High-value pharmaceutical products are mostly shipped via cold chain solutions across the entire distribution network, thereby driving the growth of the market in Asia-Pacific.

Availability of RFID technologies for cold chain applications

Adoption of radio frequency identification technology improves the efficiency and provides flow of temperature-sensitive/perishable goods along the supply chain. This technology is used to identify items through a unique electronic product code (EPC) or other barcode and to store real-time environmental data (including temperature), which can later be transmitted, allowing corrective actions to be taken before products are irrevocably damaged. In November 2018, Stora Enso launched new sustainable RFID tag technology termed as ECO by Stora Enso. The product is paper-based, making it sustainable and completely recyclable. The technology provides manufacturers with transparency in tracking the product in supply chain. In the recent years, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology has been adopted by the majority of the market participants to attain streamline operations and cater to the changing requirement of the supply chain. The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in significant change in the supply chain outlook, enabling the growing usage of digital high-end technologies to attain operational efficiency along with health concerns. The changing logistics industry outlook, requirement for substantial cost optimization, and optimum inventory management are anticipated to support the growth of the Asia-Pacific cold chain logistics market. Therefore, surge in demand for real-time temperature monitoring in cold chain logistics is expected to boost the growth of the market.

COVID-19 impact analysis

The COVID-19 crisis is creating uncertainty in the market by slowing down the supply chains, hampering business growth, and increasing panic among the customer segments. For the Asia-Pacific market, the year 2020 was a negative growth performing year, owing to the slow demand and supply outlook due to COVID-19 restrictions for end users, including manufacturers and suppliers of fruits & vegetables, bakery & confectionery, dairy & frozen desserts, meat, fish, & sea food, and drugs & pharmaceuticals industries. The overall production activities of these industries have declined, owing to operations with limited workforce capacity and inadequate health safety measures. This expected weak business performance directly impacts the overall sales and service of cold chain logistics. In February 2021, the second wave of COVID-19 hit hard more than the earlier wave of COVID-19, and is expected to impact the overall economic outlook negatively in the coming months.  

Key Benefits For Stakeholders

• This study presents the analytical depiction of the Asia-Pacific cold chain logistics market analysis along with the current trends and future estimations to depict imminent investment pockets.
• The Asia-Pacific cold chain logistics market opportunity is determined by understanding profitable trends to gain a stronger foothold.
• The report presents information related to key drivers, restraints, and opportunities of the market with a detailed impact analysis.
• The current Asia-Pacific cold chain logistics market is quantitatively analyzed from 2019 to 2027 to benchmark the financial competency.
• Porter’s five forces analysis illustrates the potency of the buyers and suppliers in the industry.

  Asia-Pacific Cold Chain Logistics Market Report Highlights