Victory Group building P1.5B distribution hub for FAST Logistics

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  • Supply chain solutions provider Victory Group of Companies broke ground on a 4.4-hectare distribution center in Meycauayan, Bulacan, that will be leased by FAST Logistics
  • The North Distribution Center 2 will cost up to P1.5 billion to build and will be a multiclient facility with a capacity of 80,000 pallet positions
  • The facility will be turned over to FAST Logistics after 12 months

End-to-end supply chain solutions provider Victory Group of Companies (VG) on March 22 broke ground on a 4.4-hectare distribution center in Meycauayan, Bulacan that will be leased by FAST Logistics as part of its expansion in North Luzon.

The North Distribution Center 2 (NDC 2) will cost up to P1.5 billion to build and will be a multiclient facility with a capacity of 80,000 pallet positions, VG president and chief executive Enrique Castillo told PortCalls in an interview during the groundbreaking.

The lease covers 10 years.

The 4.4-hectare distribution center sits within an 11-hectare property which VG has a lease on.

In his speech during the groundbreaking ceremony, Castillo said the facility will “help Meycauayan continue to transform into a strategic logistics hub.”

Castillo said while competition between companies brings out the best “in each one of us,” undertakings such as NDC 2 “transcends that and brings out the best from all of us” for the benefit of clients.

Completion of the project is targeted in 12 months. A third of the facility will be turned over to FAST on the ninth month and the rest on the last three months.

NCD 2 will be exclusively operated by FAST.

Salvador Ibañez Jr., FAST Services assistant vice president-business solutions and transition, said NDC 2 is part of the firm’s expansion plan to build a capacity of 600,000 pallet positions in three to five years.

For the first year, FAST is looking to build 200,000 pallet positions, and NDC 2 is part of that plan. Currently, he said the group’s footprint is 1.7 million square meters and is looking for more properties nationwide to put up more facilities as part of its expansion.

As part of FAST’s commitment to environmental stewardship, Ibañez said the company is looking to equip the distribution center with solar power and use electric vehicles. Earlier this year, FAST installed solar panels in its Cabuyao, Laguna warehouse.

As for VG, Castillo said the company has many reasons to be “very bullish” in 2023, describing it as a “repositioning” year for the group.

Aside from the Meycauayan distribution center, VG recently acquired a warehouse with 20,000 palette positions in a prime property in Cupang, Muntinlupa, where they will also move their head office. VG’s NDC 1 is also in Meycauayan. It was inaugurated in 2019 and has room for expansion.

Infrastructure postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic will also be put in place, Castillo said. – Roumina Pablo

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