Construction of Korea's Largest Ultra-Low Temperature Complex Logistics Center to Begin Next Year in Incheon Songdo

New Port Hinterland Complex to be Completed in 2024... Belstar Consortium Invests 528.1 Billion KRW
Set to Become a Cold Storage Logistics Hub in the Seoul Metropolitan Area... Synergy Expected with Songdo Bio Cluster

Bird's-eye view of the ultra-low temperature complex logistics center [Provided by Incheon Free Economic Zone Authority]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyesook] Construction of the largest domestic ultra-low temperature complex logistics center to be built in the hinterland of Incheon New Port (Songdo International City District 10) will begin in the first half of next year.

In particular, this project is expected to create synergy with the Songdo International City Bio Cluster in the Incheon Free Economic Zone, which is attracting global attention as a global vaccine production hub.

The Incheon Free Economic Zone Authority announced on the 22nd that it recently completed landscape and traffic reviews related to the construction of the ultra-low temperature complex logistics center in Zone 1-1 of the Incheon New Port hinterland, and plans to start construction in the first half of next year once building permits and related procedures are finalized.

This project is being promoted by the "Belstar Superfreeze Consortium," consisting of EMP Belstar headquartered in New York, USA, Korea Gas Corporation, Korea Gas Technology Corporation, and Korea Ultra-Low Temperature, investing a total of 521.8 billion KRW by 2024.

The complex logistics center plans to process 290,000 tons of frozen and refrigerated cargo annually by utilizing ultra-low temperature cold energy at minus 162 degrees Celsius generated from the nearby Korea Gas Corporation LNG receiving terminal.

This facility is expected to significantly contribute to expanding the infrastructure of frozen and refrigerated centers, which are insufficient in the Incheon area compared to other regions, and become a hub for frozen and refrigerated logistics in the metropolitan area where demand is high.

According to the Belstar Superfreeze Consortium, in 2018, the Gyeongsang Province region had 358 sufficient frozen and refrigerated facilities, accounting for 45% nationwide, whereas Incheon had relatively few, with 27 frozen and refrigerated facility companies, and the scale of ultra-low temperature rapid freezing and frozen and refrigerated facilities at -75℃ was not large.

Also, as of 2018, Busan City held about a 33% share nationwide in terms of freezing capacity, while Incheon accounted for only about 3%.

Along with Songdo's rise as a global vaccine production hub, since biopharmaceuticals require ultra-low temperature storage facilities ranging from -75℃ to -40℃, synergy is expected between the ultra-low temperature complex logistics center and bio-related companies.

A representative of the Belstar Superfreeze Consortium stated, "Following the construction of the ultra-low temperature complex logistics center, as a second phase project, we will consider supplying LNG cold energy to companies located in the Incheon New Port cold chain cluster as well as expanding additional cold chain infrastructure," adding, "We plan to develop the complex logistics center into an Asian cold chain hub targeting China and Southeast Asia in the long term."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.