On the morning of October 21st, the 500,000-ton cold storage of Shouheng City Phase II located in Xiaogan, Hubei officially opened, marking the launch of the largest cold chain cluster in Central China. This project is the core carrying project of Xiaogan National Logistics Hub and Key Cold Chain Logistics Base, invested and constructed by Shouheng Group, and also an important node in cold chain infrastructure construction in central China.
It is understood that Xiaogan Shouheng City Phase II plans a total of 8 four-story deep cold storages and 1 cold chain trading hall. The cold storages operate at a constant temperature of -18℃ to -25℃, which can meet the diversified storage needs of various fresh agricultural products such as meat, aquatic products, fruits and vegetables. After integrating the 500,000-ton cold storage of Phase II with the previously put-into-use 150,000-ton cold storage of Phase I, a cold chain cluster with a total capacity of 650,000 tons is formed, ranking first in Central China in scale.
Wang Wei, General Manager of Xiaogan Agricultural & Sideline Products Company of Shouheng, introduced that Xiaogan Shouheng City will build the core base of the "1-hour fresh distribution network" of Wuhan Metropolitan Area internally, and link with Shouheng Gaobeidian Market externally to build the "dual cores of north and south" pattern of national cold chain. Currently, the project has gathered more than 500 traders and over 2,500 downstream purchasers. The Phase II intelligent cold chain trading center will officially open and operate before the end of the year, further improving the whole chain service system of "origin - storage - trading - distribution".
From the perspective of the whole industry, China's cold storage construction has continued to expand in recent years. According to industry statistics, the total capacity of national cold storages has exceeded 267 million cubic meters, increasing by about 3.2 times in ten years, and cold chain logistics infrastructure is accelerating towards large-scale and cluster development. The landing of large cold chain hubs such as Xiaogan Shouheng City is a concentrated reflection of this trend in central China.
For cold storage construction and operation enterprises, this project brings several enlightenments: First, "large-scale and cluster" is becoming the mainstream direction of cold storage investment, and both the single-unit scale and overall supporting capacity determine competitiveness; Second, the demand for deep cold storages (below -18℃) continues to rise, putting higher requirements on the stability and energy efficiency of refrigeration systems; Third, cold storages are transforming from pure storage facilities to supply chain hubs deeply integrated with trading and distribution, and operators need to strengthen the whole chain collaboration capability.
With the launch of the largest cold chain cluster in Central China, the storage and circulation efficiency of fresh agricultural products in central China is expected to be significantly improved, and it also brings new market space for cold storage engineering and refrigeration equipment enterprises.
