On September 19, 2006, at the TAROPAK International Fair of Packaging Technology and Logistics in Poznań, a debate titled “Can Poland become the warehouse of Europe” took place. The meeting, organized by the editorial staff of “Logistyka” (at our magazine’s exhibition stand), was attended by: Ewa Radomska-Deutsch – Director of the Commercial Real Estate Department at BMR NOVA from Sopot, Dr. Eng. Ireneusz Fechner and Dr. Eng. Aleksander Niemczyk – Institute of Logistics and Warehousing, Krzysztof Płochocki – Head of Projects at SSI SCHÄFER, and Marek Skrzeczyński – President of WANDALEX SA. During the discussion, which was moderated by “Logistyka” editor-in-chief Iwo Nowak in the presence of several dozen people, the participants considered, among other things, whether we are an attractive market for foreign investors in terms of warehouse space, why the process of creating new warehouse space has accelerated in the last few years, what opportunities we have irretrievably wasted in this regard and what can still be fixed, what the current state of the warehouse market looks like, and whether we are at risk of being flooded with used equipment and warehouse infrastructure being withdrawn from the “old” European Union countries.
Iwo Nowak: Does our country have the prerequisites to become the warehouse hub of our continent? To what extent are we attractive in this regard?
Aleksander Niemczyk: I think we have enormous potential to be a warehouse – although perhaps not for all of Europe. However, we could certainly strengthen our role in terms of logistics within virtually all of Europe, not just Central and Eastern Europe. We are on the periphery of the European Union, and its enormous interest in the countries lying beyond our eastern border means that Poland will soon be – if it is not already starting to be – a very important point enabling European companies to further expand to the East.
Ireneusz Fechner: Every enterprise, every country presenting its advantages at a conference, starts by giving geographical coordinates, which show that it is the center of Europe and the navel of the world. And that would be the shortest answer. However, a more concrete answer is contained in certain data. The Institute of Logistics and Warehousing (ILiM) conducts research on our warehouse space market for the needs of the annual “Logistics in Poland” report. It is not fully balanced because no one studies the warehouses of manufacturing companies. And that is a pity. It is a very important segment of the market. Research conducted by the Central Statistical Office (GUS) and other companies (including ILiM) shows that the warehouse space of trading and service companies is about 17 million sqm. This is growing slowly in absolute numbers because a multitude of small, old warehouses are being liquidated, and in their place come modern developer warehouses, as well as those built by the owners themselves. However, it can be seen that the growth dynamics are high – especially within the largest warehouses. They are concentrated mainly in Central Poland, at the intersections of existing or planned motorways and expressways. Furthermore, it can be said that we are part of a quadrangle: Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, which has recently been assessed as the most dynamically developing area also in terms of the warehouse space market.
The article comes from the magazine “Logistyka” 6/2006.