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Logistics operators remain optimistic
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eCommerce continues to grow
The 2022 CBRE Logistics & Supply Chain Index 2022 in association with Kingspan was launched at an event held at the CBRE Ireland headquarters in Dublin on 30 June 30. The invited attendance of fifty heard presentations from Garrett McClean, Head of Industrial & Logistics at CBRE, Aisling Sands, Technical director UK & Ireland at Kingspan Insulated Panels and Simon Smith, Ireland Country Manager at Maersk.
Introducing the Index and supporting data, Garrett McClean said that this year’s survey reports an increase in confidence amongst supply chain professionals across the island of Ireland, returning to similar levels seen in the 2020 report, which had been calculated just prior to the onset of the global COVID-19 pandemic. The 2022 Index highlights less pessimism amongst manufacturers and retailers, while logistics operators’ optimism has increased from last year.
He said: “Our research highlights the incredibly resilient nature of the sector across Ireland. Whilst challenges remain in the months ahead, we can see that it is continuing to invest in infrastructure, assets, and technology to grasp golden opportunities, it is working hard to become an attractive career proposition for the next generation, and it is doing all of this in a more sustainable end environmentally friendly way”.
In looking ahead the report highlighted: “Supported by healthy occupier demand from a range of Ecommerce players, physical retailers, and 3PL’s the prospects for the year ahead look promising.”
CBRE also expect to see demand for last-mile delivery facilities gaining momentum in the year ahead and that the logistics sector will remain a preferred choice for investors in 2022. However, it does expect that scarcity of supply will continue to remain a consistent theme throughout 2022 in Dublin, Cork and in provincial locations including Galway, Limerick, and Waterford where the supply of modern accommodation is expected to remain particularly constrained. It remains unlikely that there will be any speculative development of such facilities in these areas soon. The current focus area for such development remains the Fingal County area, while South Dublin development remains constrained by lack of available suitable land and potential developments are pushing out to County Kildare.
The environmentally friendly theme was picked by Aisling Sands who said that Kingspan had launched its Planet Passionate programme in 2019. This is a 10-year sustainability programme running to 2030 that will deliver significant positive changes in environmental impacts, including reducing embodied carbon and improving the circularity of Kingspan products. She went on to say that the recent launch of PowerPanel, an integrated PV/insulated roof panel product, forms part of this programme and aims to assist customers not only to have a more energy efficient building, but also to improve energy supply certainty and, in the current volatile market, reduce exposure to unpredictable energy prices.
About Brexit, the report states that over 69% of respondents stated that they have had to manage operational delays in their supply chains because of Brexit, down from 87% last year. These are challenges that are still encountered by 60% of logistics operators, down from 84%, and by 78% of manufacturers and retailers, down from last year’s, 91%.
Simon Smith’s presentation focused on Maersk’s Journey to Carbon Neutral. The company operates 3.2 million sq. metres of warehousing in Ireland at present and plans to treble this amount by 2026. The warehousing and other operational buildings are being specified to the highest environmental standards incorporating timber and similar materials where possible. The Company’s Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) programme envisages its operations being carbon zero by 2040, having, since the COP26 event in Glasgow last year, brought that target date forward from 2050. Maersk has placed orders for the delivery of 16 methanol fuelled vessels for 2023 delivery and has partnered with several interests in the production and distribution of the fuel required. It continues to invest in the development of its door-to-door product and in putting business onto long-term contract terms while two-thirds of the Group’s top 200 customers have science-based of net zero targets. Three times as many customers purchased “Maersk ECO delivery” in 2021 than did in 2020 while companies including Amazon, IKEA and Michelin have committed to using only zero-emission ships to transport cargo by 2040. Howard Knott