China News Service, February 2. According to the website of the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing, the China Warehousing Index jointly surveyed by the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing and China Storage Development Co., Ltd. was 51.2% in January 2024, down from the previous month. 0.4 percentage points, still remaining in the expansion range, showing that the warehousing industry as a whole maintains a good operating trend and achieved a smooth start. Sub-indices such as business volume, facility utilization, charged prices, ending inventory, average inventory turnover times, and business activity expectations have all remained in the expansion range, indicating that warehousing business volume has further increased, commodity turnover efficiency has remained efficient, and consumer goods stocking has been active, and is expected to remain optimism. Specifically, this month’s index has the following characteristics:
Image source: China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing website
Business volume continues to grow, and product trends diverge. In January, the business volume index was 52.6%. Although it fell 0.3 percentage points from the previous month, it still maintained a good level in the expansion range, indicating that the overall warehousing business volume is still growing. Affected by weather and holiday factors, the trends of different categories have diverged. The bulk commodity business is greatly affected by the traditional off-season, especially steel, building materials and other industries. Due to low temperatures in most areas and the approaching Spring Festival, the overall downstream construction has entered the final stage. The production willingness of upstream companies has also significantly weakened, and the overall demand for warehousing links There has been a decline, and business activities have slowed down significantly, which is the main reason for the slight decline in the composite index. On the other hand, consumer goods generally perform well. Driven by both pre-holiday stocking and holiday consumption, consumer goods warehousing business activities have increased, playing a stabilizing role in the overall operation of the industry. Driven by the growth in business volume, the facility utilization index also remained in the expansion range. This month's index was 51.6%, down 0.9 percentage points from the previous month.
Turnover remains efficient and inventories continue to rise. In January, the average inventory turnover index was 51.7%, down 1.6 percentage points from the previous month. The index was in the expansion range, indicating that commodity turnover efficiency remained at a high level. The ending inventory index was 52.1%, an increase of 2.1 percentage points from the previous month, indicating that the ending inventory of enterprises increased significantly. The changes in the index reflect that the circulation link is smooth, the turnover of goods in and out of the warehouse remains efficient, and the replenishment and stocking of consumer goods is relatively active.
Prices continue to grow slightly, and business expectations remain optimistic. In January, the charged price index was 51.3%, an increase of 0.7 percentage points from the previous month, indicating a slight increase in warehouse rents, reflecting that companies have sufficient confidence in the growth of warehousing business demand. The business activity expectation index was 53%, an increase of 1.4 percentage points from the previous month, and continued to rise in the expansion range, indicating that companies maintain relatively optimistic expectations for the market outlook. In 2024, under the background of the gradual release of the effects of various macro-control policies, the economy is expected to continue to move upward steadily, and the general trend of smooth operation of the warehousing industry will not change. Due to the severe cold weather in February and holiday factors, it is expected that different categories of commodities will still maintain divergent trends, and the index will still face fluctuations and adjustments in the short term.