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Industry brief · Logistics & Supply Chain

Logistics in the Philippines, where our guest builds

One Building Real founder works in logistics: in the Philippines, Joe Khoo's Polar Cold rents modular cold-storage boxes to small businesses. This brief covers what surrounds that work: how the country ranks on logistics, what moving goods costs, warehouse and cold-storage deals, capacity estimates, food losses, power supply, and the government's rules and plans.

Philippines
Checked 20 Oct 2026 · every figure linked to its source · next review Jan 2027

01At a glance

43rd

The Philippines ranked 43rd of 139 countries in the World Bank's Logistics Performance Index 2023, up 17 places from 60th in 20181

LPI 2023 was the last edition with an overall rank; the World Bank's newer LPI 2.0 has no single ranking
6.7%

growth of the Philippine transportation and storage industry in 2025, revised from 6.8%, against full-year GDP growth of 4.4%, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority2

A growth rate, not the industry's size
72

government agencies are scheduled to join the Philippine National Single Window in four phased rollouts from 2026 to 2028, after it began live operations with selected pilot clients on 22 June 20263

A rollout schedule; no time or cost savings are claimed
US$130M

I Squared Capital broke ground on 24 October 2025 on a US$130 million, 1.5-hectare expansion of Royale Cold Storage in Plaridel, Bulacan, which will add 22,000 pallet positions4

A phased project; the new positions are not built yet
P3B

allocated by the Department of Agriculture in January 2025 to build around 99 cold storage facilities, about 65 of them small or modular chiller-type units5

An allocation and plan, not money spent or facilities built
P3.16T

in the Philippine PPP pipeline as of 4 May 2026, across 252 projects, led by railways at P1.97 trillion6

Proposed projects, not funded or built; no logistics breakdown

02How Philippine logistics performs

World Bank LPI 2023

  • Rank. The Philippines ranked 43rd of 139 countries in the World Bank's Logistics Performance Index 2023, up 17 places from 60th in 20181.
  • Pillars. In the 2023 LPI the Philippines scored 3.3 overall; it ranked 59th on customs (2.8) and 21st on tracking and tracing (3.9)7.
LPI 2023 is the last survey-based edition with an overall rank. The World Bank's LPI 2.0, Connecting to Compete 2025, has no single country ranking, so 43rd is not a current rank.

What moving goods costs

  • Wholesale prices. The Department of Trade and Industry said in 2016 that logistics costs account for 24% to 53% of wholesale prices in the Philippines8.
  • Imported containers. A study by advisory firm Bluefocus Infrastructure Advisors, reported in September 2025, put the average logistics cost of an imported container in the Philippines at US$5,300, with fees for customs clearance processes making up 35% to 60% of the total9.
A decade-old government figure with no named method, and a private advisory study that does not state container size or route. They measure different things and do not form a cost trend.

03How AI and digital tools are changing it

What the numbers and companies say

  • All businesses. Research commissioned by AWS and conducted by Strand Partners estimated that 21% of Philippine businesses, about 250,000, had adopted AI, and that 80,000 businesses adopted AI solutions in 202410.
  • Country index. The 2026 Agility Emerging Markets Logistics Index ranked the Philippines 18th of 50 for digital readiness, up from 23rd11. Overall, the country rose two places to 21st of 5012.
  • Company statement. FAST Logistics Group said it called for wider adoption of AI across Philippine supply chains at Supply Link 2026 in July 2026, citing faster decision-making and stronger supply chain resilience13.
No figure for AI adoption by Philippine logistics firms was found. The AWS estimate comes from a survey AWS commissioned and covers all businesses. Agility is a logistics company and its index is private; it ranks countries, not firms, and is not comparable with the World Bank LPI. FAST's statement is about its own position, with no figures.

04Where the money is moving

Cold-storage deals

  1. The Philippine Competition Commission approved a joint venture of cold chain storage and real estate companies in which Canopy Investments, a Singapore-based holding company, subscribes to new shares in Mets Cold Storage Systems14.
  2. I Squared Capital, an infrastructure investment manager, acquired a controlling stake in Royale Cold Storage, which operates five cold storage facilities serving Metro Manila and surrounding provinces15.
  3. I Squared broke ground on 24 October 2025 on a US$130 million, 1.5-hectare expansion of Royale Cold Storage in Plaridel, Bulacan, which will add 22,000 pallet positions4.
  4. Ayala's logistics arm AC Logistics agreed in January 2026 to buy a majority stake in Glacier Megafridge, which runs 12 cold storage facilities with an estimated 75,000 pallet positions16.
  5. AP Moller Capital announced the acquisition of a 40% stake in AC Logistics, a subsidiary of Ayala Corporation17.
Apart from the Royale expansion budget, no deal values were disclosed. Pallet positions from different deals are not added together or to any national estimate.

Warehouses

  • Supply. Total Philippine warehouse supply was 42 million square metres in 2025, 5% higher than the almost 40 million sqm in 2024, according to PRIME Philippines' market outlook as reported by PortCalls Asia18.
  • Occupancy. PRIME Philippines projects warehouse supply to grow 4% to 5% a year in 2026 and 2027, with occupancy at 97.1% in 202519.
  • Rents. Philippine warehouse lease rates were up to 30% higher in 2025 than before the pandemic, according to PRIME Philippines data20.
All three come from one property consultancy, PRIME Philippines: estimates and forecasts, not official counts.

05Cold storage, food losses and power

How much cold storage? Estimates conflict

PortCalls Asia, reporting PRIME Philippines' outlook, said Philippine cold storage capacity reached around 1.2 million pallet positions in 2025, and PRIME forecasts 1.3 million in 202621.

Marc Anthony Dizon, cold chain business unit head at FAST Logistics Group, said in July 2026 that the Philippines needs around 1.4 million pallet positions to support annual food consumption but has only about 860,00022.

Separately, Anthony Dizon, president of the Cold Chain Association of the Philippines, said in March 2026 he expects the industry to reach 1.4 million pallet positions by 203023.

No official national count was found. These are separate estimates by different speakers on different dates; they are not combined and no shortfall is calculated. The 'needed' figure and the 2030 expectation are different claims, and this brief does not assume the two speakers are the same person.

On cost, Marc Anthony Dizon, technical consultant of the Cold Chain Association of the Philippines, said in July 2023 that setting up an industrial-sized cold storage facility costs P65,000 per pallet position, with a 4,000-pallet facility costing about P260 million excluding land24.

Industrial-scale facilities only; not a price for small or rented units.

Food lost between farm and market

  • Vegetables. In January 2024 Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel said the Philippines loses about 30% of its vegetable produce to wastage because of poor supply-chain logistics, a figure he based on his own experience running a cold chain company25.
  • Fish. The Philippine Daily Inquirer reported in April 2023 that BFAR data put Philippine fish spoilage at 25 to 40% because of a lack of post-harvest equipment26.
  • Specific routes to Manila. In an ADB-funded SEARCA value-chain analysis, postharvest losses reached 33.89% for Iloilo mangoes and 63.90% for cold-stored onions from Nueva Ecija; freshly harvested onions on the same route lost 45.06%27.
A minister's estimate based on his business experience, undated BFAR data reported second-hand, and a 2022 study of specific routes: none is a measured national loss rate. On the onion route, cold-stored onions lost more than freshly harvested ones.

Power supply

  • Costs. PortCalls Asia reported in March 2026 that Cold Chain Association of the Philippines president Anthony Dizon identified high electricity costs, which the article described as among the highest in Southeast Asia, as one of the industry's challenges28.
  • Luzon. On 15 May 2026 the NGCP raised a red alert on the Luzon grid for the third straight time that week, with 16 plants on forced outage since May and 14 running on derated capacities, leaving 4,160 MW unavailable to the grid29.
  • Visayas. The Visayas grid had recorded 115 yellow alerts and 44 red alerts as of 28 September, according to NGCP figures reported by Philstar in October 2026, and Energy Undersecretary Mario Marasigan warned of 'substantial numbers of red alerts, not just yellow alerts.'30
Grid alerts warn of thin supply; they are not brownouts. The Visayas and Luzon are separate grids. None of these sources reports spoiled food.

06Governments: plans, fees and storage rules

Logistics policy timeline

  1. Board of Investments and PEZA. In 2023 they recognised ecozone logistics service enterprises as an eligible activity under the Strategic Investment Priorities Plan, so they may qualify for CREATE Act incentives if they render at least 70% of their output or services to registered export enterprises31.
  2. Department of Trade and Industry. The department said in September 2024 it was backing a private sector-led National Logistics Strategy and National Logistics Investments Plan, alongside the pass-through fee order and a bill to lower international shipping charges32.
  3. Anti-Red Tape Authority. Executive Order No. 41 of 2023 bars local governments from charging pass-through fees on national roads for vehicles carrying goods; in June 2026 ARTA urged logistics firms to report local governments still collecting them33.
  4. Department of Finance. The National Single Window began live operations with selected pilot clients on 22 June 2026, with 72 government agencies scheduled to be onboarded in four phased rollouts from 2026 to 20283.
The logistics strategy was a plan in development and the shipping-charges measure a bill, not law. The 2023 ecozone rule predates the CREATE MORE Act of 2024, which changed the incentive regime; its current status was not checked.

Food hubs and storage rules

  1. Department of Agriculture. The department said it had allocated P3 billion to build around 99 cold storage facilities, about 65 of them small or modular chiller-type units5.
  2. Department of Agriculture. The department issued Memorandum Circular No. 3, guidelines for an online Registry System for Agri Storage that requires those handling cold or dry storage warehouses, silos, storage tanks or stationary refrigerated container vans for farm and fishery products, whether owned or leased, to register them, in step with the Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage Act34.
  3. Department of Agriculture. The department said micro-scale operators with assets below P3 million, including sari-sari stores, wet market vendors, home-based family enterprises and itinerant peddlers, are exempt from the agri-storage registration, which is now mandatory for medium and large operators35.
  4. Clark National Food Hub. Construction was set to start soon after the Department of Agriculture signed agreements with Food Terminal Inc., which will operate it, with the hub due to become partially operational by the end of 2027; the government has so far committed P4 billion to the project36.
  5. Department of Agriculture. The department set 31 December 2026 as the final cutoff for agricultural and fishery storage facilities to register, with nationwide checks starting in 2027, staggered by region37.
The P3 billion is an allocation and plan and the Clark hub's funding a commitment, not money spent or capacity built. The storage registry sits under a law aimed at agricultural smuggling and hoarding.

07Trends to watch

Infrastructure investors buy into cold storage

I Squared Capital acquired a controlling stake in Royale Cold Storage15 and broke ground in October 2025 on a US$130 million expansion that will add 22,000 pallet positions4. Ayala's AC Logistics agreed in January 2026 to buy a majority stake in Glacier Megafridge16, and AP Moller Capital announced the acquisition of a 40% stake in AC Logistics17.

Warehouses are nearly full and rents are up

Warehouse occupancy was 97.1% in 2025, according to PRIME Philippines, which projects supply to grow 4% to 5% a year in 2026 and 202719. Lease rates were up to 30% higher in 2025 than before the pandemic20.

Government goes after paperwork and road fees

The National Single Window began live operations with selected pilot clients on 22 June 20263. In June 2026 ARTA urged logistics firms to report local governments still charging the pass-through fees that Executive Order No. 41 of 2023 bars33. In September 2024 DTI said it was backing a private sector-led National Logistics Strategy32.

Agricultural storage comes under a registry

The Department of Agriculture's Memorandum Circular No. 3 requires those handling cold or dry storage for farm and fishery products to register them34, with micro-scale operators with assets below P3 million exempt35, and a final cutoff of 31 December 202637.

Power stays tight

On 15 May 2026 the NGCP raised a red alert on the Luzon grid for the third straight time that week29. The Visayas grid had recorded 44 red alerts as of 28 September, according to NGCP figures reported in October 202630. The cold-chain association's president names high electricity costs as one of the industry's challenges28.

08The problems our guests are solving

Joe Khoo on Building Real
Philippines

EP11Joe Khoo · Polar Cold

Joe Khoo says he joined a corporate venture studio run by the energy company ENGIE to build a cold-chain startup, then spent two years pivoting from selling energy-efficient cold rooms to renting modular cold-storage boxes. In the episode he describes Philippine small businesses using them instead of unreliable chest freezers or costly built-in cold rooms, and boxes whose onboard sensors and battery-backed router are designed to flag refrigerant leaks or brownouts before compressors fail.

200,000+

On 13 May 2026, in a week when Luzon's grid went on red alert, Meralco's emergency rotating brownouts hit more than 200,000 customers across parts of Metro Manila, Batangas, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna and Rizal, with interruptions averaging three hours38.

One day's event, not an outage rate. The source does not mention spoiled food, and it is not a measure of Polar Cold's customers or of how its boxes perform.
Watch the episode →

See how these conversations connect on the Discovery Atlas →

09Sources

One research agent gathered 40 figures from government, regulator and established data sources. A separate red-team agent then reopened every source, checked each number, its scope and its date, and looked for newer or conflicting data. It kept 19 figures as written, corrected 19 and cut 2. Each figure above links to its source below, with the date it refers to.

  1. Philippine News Agency, 24 Apr 2023, reporting World Bank LPI 2023 · LPI 2023 (last survey-based edition with an overall ranking)
  2. Philippine Statistics Authority, 8 Apr 2026 · Full year 2025 (revised 8 Apr 2026)
  3. Department of Finance, 23 Jun 2026 · Pilot Jun 2026; rollout 2026-2028
  4. PortCalls Asia, 27 Oct 2025 · Groundbreaking 24 Oct 2025 (project, phased)
  5. Department of Agriculture, 27 Jan 2025 · Plan, Jan 2025
  6. SunStar, 4 May 2026 (Philippine News Agency, PPP Center data) · As of 4 May 2026
  7. PortCalls Asia, 24 Apr 2023, reporting World Bank LPI 2023 · LPI 2023
  8. PortCalls Asia, 2 Mar 2016, reporting DTI · Stated Mar 2016
  9. Malaya Business Insight, 24 Sep 2025, reporting Bluefocus Infrastructure Advisors · Study published 'last April' (likely Apr 2025); reported 24 Sep 2025
  10. Amazon Web Services press release, 19 Aug 2025 · Survey 2025 (1,000 business leaders); release 19 Aug 2025
  11. PortCalls Asia, 9 Feb 2026, reporting Agility · Agility Emerging Markets Logistics Index 2026
  12. PortCalls Asia, 9 Feb 2026, reporting Agility · Agility Emerging Markets Logistics Index 2026
  13. FAST Logistics Group website (company statement), 17 Jul 2026 · Jul 2026
  14. Philippine Competition Commission release (7 May 2025), via ASEAN Competition (5 Jun 2025) · PCC release 7 May 2025
  15. Latham & Watkins deal note, 27 Jan 2026 · Deal announced Jun 2025; adviser note 27 Jan 2026
  16. Philstar.com, 27 Jan 2026 · Agreement Jan 2026
  17. Fruitnet (Asiafruit), 10 Jul 2026 · Reported 10 Jul 2026
  18. PortCalls Asia, 11 Feb 2026, reporting PRIME Philippines · 2025
  19. PortCalls Asia, 11 Feb 2026, reporting PRIME Philippines · Forecast 2026-2027; occupancy 2025
  20. PortCalls Asia, 11 Feb 2026, reporting PRIME Philippines · 2025
  21. PortCalls Asia, 11 Feb 2026, reporting PRIME Philippines · 2025 (forecast 2026)
  22. Insider PH, 13 Jul 2026 · Stated Jul 2026 (2026 Mid-Year Food and Agribusiness E-Conference)
  23. PortCalls Asia, 23 Mar 2026 · Projection to 2030, stated Mar 2026
  24. PortCalls Asia, 21 Jul 2023 · Stated Jul 2023
  25. ABS-CBN News, 16 Jan 2024 · Ministerial estimate, 16 Jan 2024
  26. Philippine Daily Inquirer, 4 Apr 2023 · BFAR data (year not stated), reported 4 Apr 2023
  27. SEARCA, 27 Mar 2022 (ADB-funded 'Analysis of Fruit and Vegetable Value Chains in the Philippines') · Study presented Mar 2022
  28. PortCalls Asia, 23 Mar 2026 · Reported 23 Mar 2026
  29. Daily Tribune, 15 May 2026 · 15 May 2026
  30. Philstar.com, 13 Oct 2026 · As of 28 Sep (year not stated on page; reported 13 Oct 2026)
  31. PortCalls Asia, 7 Feb 2023 · BOI MC 2023-001 (31 Jan 2023), PEZA MC 2023-010
  32. Department of Trade and Industry, 16 Sep 2024 (Usec Jean Pacheco, SCMAP conference) · Stated Sep 2024
  33. PortCalls Asia, 3 Jun 2026 · EO 2023; ARTA statement Jun 2026
  34. Philippine Daily Inquirer, 10 Feb 2026 · MC 03, series of 2026; reported 10 Feb 2026
  35. Philstar.com, 15 Feb 2026 · Stated Feb 2026
  36. PortCalls Asia, 17 Aug 2026 · Status as of 17 Aug 2026
  37. context.ph, 29 Sep 2026 · Deadline 31 Dec 2026 (reported 29 Sep 2026)
  38. Philstar.com, 14 May 2026 · 13 May 2026 (one event)