With 28,091,186 cubic meters of refrigerated warehouse space in place, down from 29,095,138 in service during 2015, Americold Logistics continues by far to rank first size-wise, according to the just released Global Top 25 list of the largest temperature-controlled warehousing and logistics providers on the planet.
The global rankings are compiled annually by the International Association of Refrigerated Warehouses (IARW), along with the North American Top 25 list and a compilation of the largest operators in Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean.
Operators around the world reported increased capacity, and several additional companies joined the Alexandria, Virginia, USA-headquartered IARW during the past year. As a result, the combined space of the trade association’s total membership is significantly higher. IARW members currently own or operate 4.96 billion cubic feet of space (140.50 million cubic meters). That’s a 4.88% increase over May of 2015, when the lists were last published.
The Global Top 25 companies (click here to see a table with details) currently account for 3.86 billion cubic feet (109.57 million cubic meters) of refrigerated space – an 8.13% increase over 2015. The North American Top 25 operate 3.03 billion cubic feet (86.01 million cubic meters) – an advance of 8.15% over 2015. The European Top 10 account for 568.72 million cubic feet (16.1 million cubic meters), while the Latin American Top 20 have 249.3 million cubic feet (7.05 million cubic meters) in service.
“The increase in capacity reflects continued consolidation and growth of the global cold chain industry,” said IARW President and CEO Corey Rosenbusch. “As our members expand into non-traditional sectors such as fresh and customized supply chain services, capacity will steadily increase.”
There has been no change in rankings during 2016 among the first four companies listed in the Global Top 25. The second largest operator again is Lineage Logistics, which offers 17,252,759 cubic meters of space to clients in the USA – up from 16,998,329 in 2015.
Placing third is the Swire Group, which includes United States Cold Storage as well as refrigerated warehouses in Australia, China, Vietnam and Sri Lanka. Its 2016 capacity is 11,604,734 cubic meters, up from 9,459,033 the year before.
In fourth position is Preferred Freezer Services at 9,214,105 cubic meters, up from 7,302,384 in 2015. The Chatham, New Jersey-headquartered company operates cold storage warehouses throughout the USA in addition to China and Vietnam.
Moving up to fifth place in the rankings from 10th position last year is AGRO Merchants Group. Its capacity has dramatically increased to 6,203,005 cubic meters, compared to 2,264,739 in 2015. The fast-growing company has facilities in Australia, Brazil, Chile, Ireland, the Netherlands, Spain and the USA.
Rounding out the Top 10 are:
Nichirei Logistics Group, Inc. at #6 with 4,451,673 cubic meters of space – up from 4,315,673 in 2015 – available in Japan, the Netherlands, France and Poland.
Close behind at #7 is the Kloosterboer Group. It operates 4,264,000 cubic meters – up from 3,522,707 a year ago – in the Netherlands, Poland, France, Canada and the USA.
Ranked #8 on the IARW list is VersaCold Logistics Services, with 3,262,201 cubic meters of space available throughout Canada. That’s down slightly from 3,380,950 in service during 2015. However, it should be pointed out that a non-IARW member, the Nordfrost Group of Germany, offers more than 3,350,000 cubic meters of space to clients.
Partner Logistics is the 9th largest operator, according to the IARW tabulation, with 2,860,594 cubic meters available to customers in Belgium, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.
Holding 10th position is Interstate Warehousing, Inc., which operates 2,838,122 cubic meters of space in the United States. That’s up from 2,335,274 available the year before.
North American Leaders
As in the Global Top 25, Americold and Lineage Logistics rank first and second in the North American Top 25 listing (click here for full details), offering 25,698,994 and 17,252,759 cubic meters of space, respectively, in that region.
Preferred Freezers is the third largest operator with 7,852,697 cubic meters, followed by United States Cold Storage at 7,362,368, and VersaCold Logistics Services at 3,262,201.
Kloosterboer Tops in Europe
In Europe, Kloosterboer was again No. 1 with 4,264,000 cubic meters of space (up from 3,383,707 in 2015), followed by Partner Logistics at 2,860,594 cubic meters (click here for full details).
Again, it should be pointed out that the Nordfrost Group, which is not an IARW member, is not listed. It would rank as number two, ahead of Partner Logistics, as the Schortens, Germany-headquartered company offers more than 3,350,000 cubic meters of space in its network of 35 facilities.
Rounding out the IARW’s Top 10 in Europe are:
#3 – AGRO Merchants Group (serving Austria, Ireland, the Netherlands and Spain), 1,877,187 cubic meters
#4 – NewCold Coöperatief U.A. (France, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland and the UK), 1,566,999 cubic meters
#5 – Gruppo Marconi Logistica Integrata (Italy), 1,559,999 cubic meters
#6 – Nichirei Logistics Group, Inc. (the Netherlands, France and Poland), 1,094,498 cubic meters
#7 – Bring Frigo (Sweden, Finland, Norway, France, the Netherlands and Spain), 956,743 cubic meters
#8 – Claus Sørensen A/S (Denmark), 722,437 cubic meters
#9 – Agri-Norcold A/S (Denmark), 678,046 cubic meters
#10 – Frigolanda Cold Logistics (Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands and Poland), 523,861 cubic meters
Frialsa Frigorificos No. 1 in Latin America
Ranking No. 1 in Latin America & Caribbean Top 20 (click here for full details) is Frialsa Frigorificos, which operates 1,724,274 cubic meters of space in Mexico. AGRO Merchants Group, which offers warehousing and logistics services in Brazil and Chile, ranks second with capacity 1,106,376 cubic meters.
The IARW represents over 1,190 temperature-controlled facilities in 60 countries. Its warehouse members offer a wide range of logistics solutions including storage, transportation, processing, blast freezing and export services. A complete listing of all IARW warehouse members can be found in the Global Cold Chain Directory, which is available free of charge online or as a mobile app. For more information, visit www.gcca.org/directory.
