Wared Logistics, a unit of Saudi-based Construction Products Holding Company (CPC), has started the first of a series of temperature-controlled warehouses planned to be in operation by mid 2012.

The new 5,000 sq m freezer/chiller facility in Riyadh will be fully operational by January next year, said a top official.

The Riyadh operation will be followed by Jeddah and Dammam, and other locations in central and southern Saudi Arabia.

CEO Marwan Alfadl said, 'Temperature-controlled warehousing for finished products represents the higher end of the market. Entry barriers are relatively high in terms of investment and know-how. Customer demands are high, and tolerances are low.'

'Warehouse management systems are required, as well as efficient product handling. By focusing on this segment Wared Logistics is firmly establishing itself as a professional third party logistics (3PL) service provider,' he added.

Wared’s warehousing operations come under the subsidiary Wared Warehousing & Distribution company, which expects to have up to 15,000 sq m of refrigerated warehousing under management by second and third quarter of 2012.

As for dry warehousing Alfadl said, 'Frozen goods clients tend to have dry storage requirements as well, so that will be part of our operations. On a broader scale, the costs of dry tends to be more a reflection of real estate supply than 3PL demand.'

Wared warehousing activities are complemented by mature transport firms embodied in Wared Transport, a full truckload and heavy transport operation, and Wared Express, a less-than-truckload  and dedicated truck operation.

'Over the past 18 months Wared has set up dedicated truck facilities catering to food and pharmaceuticals industries. It is currently expanding its fleet of reefer trucks to handle distribution of frozen stored goods,' said Alfadl.-TradeArabia News Service