Malaysia Cold Chain Market Outlook To 2026
Driven by Increase in Demand for Perishable Food Items and its Establishment as the Halal Industry Hub, Malaysia Cold Chain Market Experiencing Growth

The report titled “Malaysia Cold Chain Market Outlook To 2026 - Driven by Increase in Demand for Perishable Food Items and its Establishment as the Halal Industry Hub, Malaysia Cold Chain Market Experiencing Growth“provides a comprehensive analysis on the Cold Chain Market in Malaysia. The report covers various aspects including overview and market size, market segmentation, stakeholders, value chain analysis, major players, competitive landscape, operating and profitability model, end-user potential in the cold chain industry and many other influential factors. The report concludes with market projections and analyst recommendations highlighting the major opportunities and cautions for the cold chain market players.

Malaysia Cold Chain Market Overview and Size

The cold chain market in Malaysia is at the growth stage. There are not many providers that offer cold chain service for the Malaysian market and it is considered a niche market. Malaysia has established itself as the halal industry hub, making it one of the major trading partners of halal meat and other products. In the review period 2016-2021P, the Malaysia cold chain market has increased at a positive CAGR of 6.9% primarily due to substantial government investments in the freight industry and increase in retail and consumer spending especially in meat and seafood, fruits/vegetables market, and the growing pharmaceuticals industry.

Malaysia Cold Chain Market Overview Segmentation

Cold Warehousing

The cold storage market is dominating the market and contributing majority revenue share to the cold chain industry. Most of the cold storage warehouses are located in free-zones. Malaysian Free Trade Zones are equipped with different incentives and focuses. They facilitate customs processing as well as provide bonded warehousing for transhipment. The relatively higher growth in cold warehousing as compared to cold transportation can be attributed to setting up of new facilities in Free Zone Areas by the companies in the industry. This is because they prefer investing in cold warehouses, since it is a more secure long-term asset, despite the heavy investment costs it requires. Seasonal surge in demand is seen especially during the Ramadan festival.  

Cold Transportation

The industry caters to the distribution of food and pharma domestically and internationally via land, sea and air. Some of the key growth drivers include increasing domestic production of perishables and growing end users in emerging markets. The revenue generation from international freight is higher than the revenue generated from transportation of goods within the country as the distance covered plays a major role in determining the revenue generated. Since, Malaysia is actively involved exports of certain F&B products, the international freight revenue generation is higher than domestic freight.

By End-User Application (Meat and Seafood, Dairy Products, Pharmaceuticals, Fruits and Vegetables and Others): Meat and seafood is the largest end user industry in Malaysia. In 2021, the demand for frozen meat slightly declined in Malaysia as people preferred fruits and vegetables as the healthier alternative after Covid-19. The pharmaceutical industry saw a boost post the onset of the pandemic and the consumption of fruits and vegetables increased due to growing health concerns in the country.

Malaysia Cold Warehousing Market Segmentations:

By Temperature Range (Ambient, Chilled and Frozen): Chillers and freezers were quite high in demand in the year 2021P given the increase in the consumption of frozen and fresh food items. Since most of the halal products require storage in the freezers, there is highest demand for freezers in Malaysia, followed by chillers in which fresh food products are stored.

By Ownership (Integrated and Contract Warehouses): Integrated logistic facilities generated larger revenue share in 2021P. This is majorly as most of the warehouses (especially the big players) are able to store/ accommodate their clientele's products within their owned warehouses. These mergers of small players with big cold chain players are leading to the establishment of a bigger player thus eliminating the need of outsourcing (4PL). More small cold companies are expected to merge with bigger players increasing the share of integrated logistics.

Malaysia Cold Transportation Market Segmentations:

By Mode of Transport (Land, Sea and Air): Mostly land transport is used for cold transportation.  Cold transportation through land contributed the highest revenue to the cold transport industry as land transportation is used not only for domestically transporting goods internally within the country but also used for transporting goods to the neighbouring countries of Malaysia such as Singapore, Thailand, Lao PDR, Cambodia, and Vietnam. Air freight is not widely used to transport goods across the country. Only in rare cases of delivering life-saving drugs or essential goods, air transportation is usually used. Otherwise, air transport is mainly used for international freight forwarding.

By Type of Freight (Domestic and International): The revenue generation from international freight is higher than the revenue generated from transportation of goods within the country as the distance covered plays a major role in determining the revenue generated. Since, Malaysia is actively involved exports of certain F&B products, the international freight revenue generation is higher than domestic freight.

Competitive Landscape

Competition in Malaysia Cold Storage Market is moderately consolidated with ~4 large companies acquiring chunks of market share. The market is highly concentrated in the free zones. The developed transport infrastructure in these regions along with the proximity to the sea and air ports has been the key factors leading to the growth of the cold chain businesses in these areas. The cold chain companies in the country compete on a host of parameters such as price, quality of service, technological advancement, key clientele, location, industry expertise, etc. Major players in the cold chain market include TASCO Cold Chain, Integrated Cold Chain Logistics, Frio Logistics, NL Cold Chain and others.

Malaysia Cold Chain Market Future Outlook and Projections

The Cold Chain market in Malaysia is expected to experience moderate level of growth at a single digit CAGR in terms of revenue during the period 2021P-2026F. The Cold Chain market in Malaysia is expected to experience positive growth owing to the increase in demand for perishable food items, increase in e-commerce and government’s initiatives to improve the logistics infrastructure in the country as part of Malaysia’s ‘National Transport Policy’. Moreover, the operational efficiency in Malaysia cold chain market over the forecast period 2021P-2026F is to improve with the increasing adoption of warehouse automation technologies such as RFID, AS/AR, WMS, AMR and others.

Key Segments Covered

By Type of Market

Overall Cold Chain Market

By End-User Application

Meat/seafood

Dairy products

Pharmaceuticals

Vegetables/fruits

Others

Cold Storage

By Temperature

Ambient

Chilled

Frozen

By Ownership

Integrated

Contract

Cold Transport

By Mode of Freight

Land

Sea

Air

By Type of Freight

Domestic

International

By Type of Air Freight

Domestic

International

By Type of Land Freight

Domestic

International

By Type of Sea Freight

Domestic

International

Key Target Audience

Cold Chain Companies

Logistics Companies

Government Associations

Express Logistics Companies

Industry Associations

Warehousing Companies

E-Commerce Operations

Investors and Private Equity Companies

Logistics Companies

Dairy Companies

Meat and Seafood Companies

Fruits and Vegetables Companies

Pharmaceutical Companies

Time Period Captured in the Report

Historical Period: 2016-2021P

Forecast Period: 2021P-2026F 

Companies Covered

Tiong Nam Logistics

IGLO

SK Cold Chain

NL Cold Chain

TASCO Cold Chain

Frio Logistics

Integrated Cold Chain Logistics

Key Topics Covered in the Report

Malaysia Cold Chain Market Overview

Infrastructure Analysis

Existing and Emerging Technologies

Malaysia Cold Chain Market Value Chain

Malaysia Cold Chain Market Size by Revenue, 2016-2021P

Malaysia Cold Chain Market Segmentation and Segment Future, 2021P-2026F

End User Industry Analysis And Future Growth Potential

Malaysia Cold Chain Market Competitive Landscape

Malaysia Cold Chain Market Company Profiles of Major Players

Regulatory Environment

Industry Trends and Developments

Industry Issues and Challenges

Analyst Recommendation

Malaysia Cold Chain Market Future Outlook and Projections, 2021P-2026F

Malaysia Cold Chain Market Analyst Recommendations