Global cold storage capacity report reveals strong worldwide growth

The report includes analyses of growth trends in global capacity, market development indicators and characteristics of refrigerated warehouses.

The International Association of Refrigerated Warehouses (IARW) has released its 2014 Global Cold Storage Capacity Report. The report shows the total worldwide capacity of refrigerated warehouses was estimated at 552 million cubic meters in 2014, an increase of 92 million cubic meters (20 percent) since 2012. India surpasses the US in cold storage capacity, while China came in third.

“It’s really interesting to see India surpass the US in total cold storage capacity with 131 million cubic meters of space, compared to 115 million cubic members for the US,” says Corey Rosenbusch, president & CEO, Global Cold Chain Alliance. “And as shown in the 2014 report, China is now the third-largest with 76 million cubic meters of space.”

The 42-page report includes analyses of growth trends in global capacity, market development indicators and characteristics of refrigerated warehouses around the world. New countries covered in the 2014 report include Egypt, Iran, Kuwait, Libya, El Salvador, Afghanistan, the Dominican Republic and Oman.

In all, the report features cold storage market data on 58 countries. Cold storage capacity is experiencing an annual growth rate above 5 percent during a sustained period of time in 17 countries. The long-term growth rates are highest in India, China and Turkey.

IARW says during the last two years, approximately 17 million cubic meters of refrigerated warehouse capacity has been added to its database from eight additional countries and nine more international cold storage companies that are now contributing data.

The report found household income is the main driver of global growth in refrigerated warehousing. According to the researchers, the increase in household purchasing power is accompanied by changes in preferences favoring large-scale shopping formats such as supermarkets and hypermarkets.

For more information on how to access the full report, visit www.gcca.org.

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Jeremy Gerrard was Food Engineering's Digital/Online Editor. He is a graduate of Auburn University with a degree in journalism. His previous work experience includes years spent as a reporter with the Daily Local News out of Chester County, PA. In addition to writing feature articles for Food Engineering, Jeremy covered the Dry Processing, Field Reports and People and Industry news sections.