Chinese third-party logistics providers and e-commerce companies were responsible for 20% of net new warehouse leasing in the US during the third quarter.
According to Wall Street Journal coverage culled from Prologis data, many of these companies are leasing space in major logistics markets near ports in Southern California, New Jersey and Savannah, Georgia. Some of the companies within that 20% share are headquartered in China while others have headquarters in the US and elsewhere but primarily handle China-to-US logistics.
Chris Caton, managing director for global strategy and analytics at Prologis, observed that the new focus on warehouses comes in response to the expansion of Chinese discount retailers including Shein and Temu in the US market.
“Some of these concepts are growing 25%, 50% year on year,” said Caton. “When you go from having a $5 [billion] to $10 [billion], or $10 [billion] to $20 billion online concept, you need a supply chain to execute on that.”
Jason Tolliver, head of logistics and industrial real estate at real-estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield, told the Journal that this new leasing activity is also being fueled by some Chinese companies that are now storing merchandise on this side of the Pacific ahead of possible new tariffs on Chinese goods.
“Regardless of who wins the US presidential election, both parties have a platform where tariffs are a part of their policy, and particularly tariffs against China,” Tolliver said.
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Make America Great Again? Then quit buyer Chinese crap!
Unfortunately, it’s not always clear the items are made in China when they indicate they ship from the U.S.