The Zhitong Finance App learned that on February 2, the China Warehousing Index, which was jointly surveyed by the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing and China Storage Development Co., Ltd., was 51.2% in January 2024, down 0.4 percentage points from the previous month, and remained in the expansion range, indicating that the overall warehousing industry maintained a good operating trend and achieved a smooth start. Sub-indices such as business volume, facility utilization rate, fee price, end-of-period inventory, average inventory turnover, and business activity expectations all remained in the expansion range, indicating further growth in warehousing business volume, efficient commodity turnover, active preparation of consumer goods, and optimistic expectations.

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China's storage index for January 2024 shows that the overall operation of the industry is stable and the trend of varieties is diverging

The China Warehousing Index, which was jointly surveyed by the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing and China Storage Development Co., Ltd., was 51.2% in January 2024, down 0.4 percentage points from the previous month, and remained in the expansion range, indicating that the overall warehousing industry maintained a good operating trend and achieved a smooth start. Sub-indices such as business volume, facility utilization rate, fee price, end-of-period inventory, average inventory turnover, and business activity expectations all remained in the expansion range, indicating further growth in warehousing business volume, efficient commodity turnover, active preparation of consumer goods, and optimistic expectations. Specifically, this month's index has the following characteristics:

Business volume continues to grow, and variety trends diverge. In January, the business volume index was 52.6%. Although it fell 0.3 percentage points from the previous month, it remained at a good level in the expansion range, indicating that the overall warehousing business volume is still growing. Due to weather and holiday factors, trends in different categories have diverged. The commodity business is greatly affected by the traditional off-season, especially in the steel and building materials industries. As temperatures are low in most regions, and the overall downstream construction is in the final stage, upstream companies' willingness to produce has also clearly weakened. Overall demand in the warehousing sector has declined, and business activity has clearly slowed down, which is the main reason for the slight decline in the composite index. On the other hand, consumer goods generally performed well. Driven by pre-holiday preparations and holiday consumption, consumer goods warehousing business activities have increased, which has played a stabilizing role in the overall operation of the industry. Driven by 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.

Turnarounds remain 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 is in the expansion range, indicating that commodity turnover efficiency is still at a high level. The inventory index at the end of the period was 52.1%, up 2.1 percentage points from the previous month, indicating a marked increase in the company's inventory volume at the end of the period. Changes in the index reflect the smooth circulation process, the turnover of products in and out of storage remains efficient, and consumer goods are being replenished and prepared actively.

Prices continue to rise slightly, and business expectations remain optimistic. In January, the fee price index was 51.3%, up 0.7 percentage points from the previous month, indicating a slight increase in warehouse rents, reflecting the company's confidence in the growing demand for the warehousing business. The expected business activity index was 53%, up 1.4 percentage points from the previous month, and continued to rise in the expansion range, indicating that companies maintain optimistic expectations for the future market. In 2024, against the backdrop of the gradual release of the effects of various macro-control policies, the economy is expected to continue to improve steadily, and the general trend of the 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 products will maintain a divergent trend, and the index will still face fluctuations and adjustments in the short term.

This article was selected from “China IoT Official Website”; Zhitong Finance Editor: Huang Xiaodong.