[THE INVESTOR] CJ Korea Express signed an agreement on July 25 with Incheon International Airport to build an express delivery center in the airport’s logistics complex.

It will invest 24.9 billion won (US$21.89 million) and build a 21,157m² center that will start operating in the latter half of 2017.

It is “a preemptive measure to process the fast-increasing volume of express parcels, especially from and to China and Southeast Asia,” said Park Geun-tae, CEO of the logistics arm of South Korean conglomerate CJ Group. 

To speed up the process, it will bring in state-of-the-art equipment such as automated sorters and high-speed X-ray machines.

The shipping and logistics unit posted 5.56 trillion won in sales last year, accounting for 17 percent of the group’s total revenue and the second-largest amount among the group’s affiliates.

CJ Korea Express is the dominant leader in the parcel industry taking more than 40 percent of the market share. It is also the second largest logistics company in the nation after Hyundai Glovis by revenue.

In March, it started building a hub terminal in Gyeonggi Province for parcels said to be the largest in Asia. In 2013 the CJ affiliate took over China’s Smart Cargo, a leader in large freight transportation business, and in 2015 it acquired Rokin, the largest provider of cold storage for food in China.

By Hwang You-mee (glamazon@heraldcorp.com)