Colombia
2.6 Colombia Storage Assessment
Home

Overview

In Colombia, building large warehouses in industrial parks and free trade zones has become a storage solution for companies. Such infrastructure is built by large real estate companies, which sell or lease them to real sector firms for their operations or logistics operators; the latter provide logistics centers for storage and cargo handling services to multiple clients and types of goods.

For foreign trade and/or cost optimization operations, the country has warehouses/storage facilities in free trade zones and customs areas with differentiated customs and tax regimes.

Major cities and their neighboring areas continue to lead in storage capacity. Bogota has reached a competitive inventory of warehouses in industrial parks close to 5,345,600 m2, thus achieving sufficient storage capacity for industrial and private sectors in urban areas. However, there is no sufficient storage capacity in the event of an emergency in rural areas prone to disasters.

There are 112 free trade zones nationwide, of which 50 are permanent or multi-company zones and 62 are special or single-company zones.

Business Warehousing

Business warehousing services are provided by private logistics operators, which usually integrate the entire supply chain (3PL) by managing local and international operations from suppliers to end customers. A wide range of warehousing services is available by companies providing a good service and appropriate warehousing and logistics center infrastructure.

Some of the companies offering business warehousing services are listed below:

Location

Owner

Available for rent

Capacity

Type [1]

Access [2]

Condition [3]

Bogotá (6 warehouses)

Almagrario

Yes

32,423 m2

Concrete

Flat

Good

Barranquilla (1 warehouse)

Almagrario

Yes

21,567 m2

Concrete

Flat

Good

Buenaventura (2 warehouses)

Almagrario

Yes

23,045 m2

Concrete

Flat

Good

Cartagena (2 warehouses)

Distriservice

Yes

23,516 m2

Concrete

Flat

Good

Santa Marta (1 warehouse)

Almagrario

Yes

5,792 m2

Concrete

Flat

Good

Medellín (3 warehouses) – Cali (4 warehouses)

Repremundo

Yes

32,265 m2

Concrete

Flat

Good

Bogotá (3 warehouses)

Repremundo

Yes

60,943 m2

Concrete

Flat

Good

Cali / Medellín / Pereira / Buenaventura.

Almaviva

Yes

92,270 m2

Concrete

Flat

Good

Barranquilla / Cartagena / Cúcuta / Bucaramanga

Almaviva

Yes

60,130 m2

Concrete

Flat

Good

Armenia/ Bogotá/ Bucaramanga/ Buga/ Cúcuta/ Ibagué/ Manizales/ Medellín/ Neiva/ Pasto/ Pereira/ Popayán/ Santa Marta

Almacafe

Yes

267,942 m2

Concrete

Flat

Good

 [1] Warehouse Type: Open storage, container, rub-hall, silo, concrete, other, unspecified

 [2]Warehouse Access: Raised-siding, flat

 [3]Warehouse condition: Apparently intact, apparently damaged, under construction / repairs

Storage Used by Humanitarian Organizations

Humanitarian organizations contract goods storage services with logistics operators based on their needs. Similarly, they have small to medium-sized warehouses in the national territory to manage goods required to meet their regular activities and when their inventories need to be increased to respond to emergencies, either due to local purchases or imports, they use warehouses in municipalities, governors' offices or temporarily rent regional warehouses.

WFP Colombia outsources warehousing services in Bogotá, Cartagena, La Guajira, Cúcuta, Cali and Barranquilla.

The Colombian Red Cross and Civil Defense warehouses are located in immediate response stockpile centers, which are regulated by Decree 969 of 1995 of the Ministry of Justice. These centers are located in the departmental capitals classified from Type A (900 mts3) to Type D (30 mts3), depending on their size.

In addition, regional stockpile centers have immediate response centers, which may operate through specific agreements between the departments and duly recognized operational groups.

Some of the warehouses managed by the WFP, the Red Cross and the Civil Defense throughout the country are listed below:


Location

Organization

Possibility of sharing

Capacity

Type [1]

Access [2]

Condition[3]

Nariño, Vichada, Boyacá, Córdoba, Norte de Santander, Bolívar, Tolima, Santander, Casanare, Cesar, Caldas, Antioquia, Atlántico, Quindío, Magdalena, Meta, Valle, Guajira, Huila, Bogotá and Cundinamarca offices.

Red Cross and Civil Defense

Yes

From 70 m2 in stockpile centers

Concrete

Flat

Good

Bogotá, Cartagena, Cali, La Guajira, Cúcuta and Barranquilla

WFP

Yes

800 - 1000 m2 in stockpile centers

Concrete

Flat

Good

Public Sector Storage

Several governmental institutions are located nationwide to provide support in emergency assistance. One of the largest storage facilities is the Dispatch Warehouse of the National Unit for Disaster Risk Management (UNGRD in Spanish).

The National Logistics Center of the National Unit for Disaster Risk Management - UNGRD has a total of eight (8) Humanitarian Logistics Centers, which seek to strengthen the capacity to respond to emergencies and other recovery processes in the departments and municipalities of the country in which these are strategically located: Bogota, Caldas, Antioquia, Norte de Santander, Bolivar, Meta, Santander and San Andres. Their main objectives are:

  • Manage supplies and support services, ensuring that requested requirements are appropriate based on specific needs, quantity, conditions, location and timing.
  • Coordinate the movement of personnel, equipment, accessories, tools, supplies and emergency humanitarian assistance for operational staff work and/or assistance to the affected population.
  • Have an updated and geo-referenced inventory at the national level with a consolidated response capacity from the National Disaster Risk Management System (SNGRD in Spanish).
  • Support operations in nearby municipalities or areas that do not meet minimum storage and warehousing conditions.


Location

Ministry/Agency

Possibility of Use

Capacity

Type [1]

Access [2]

Condition [3]

Antioquia, Bolívar, Caldas, Norte de Santander, Meta, Santander and San Andrés

UNGRD

No

From 56 m2 in stockpile centers

Concrete

Flat

Good

Bogotá

UNGRD

No

From 62 m2 in stockpile centers

Concrete

Flat

Good

Customs offices

DIAN

No

From 85 m2 in stockpile centers

Concrete

Flat

Good

[1] Warehouse type: Open storage, container, rub-hall, silo, concrete, other, unspecified

[2] Warehouse access: Raised-siding, flat

[3] Warehouse condition: Apparently intact, apparently damaged, under construction / repairs

Cold Chain

Cold chain supply in Colombia is provided by logistics companies offering industrial and commercial refrigeration services as part of their service portfolio, which include transportation, proper preservation and handling of products to ensure the correct operation of this service. Some companies have refrigerated docks and cross-docking platforms that allow monitoring the receipt, picking and dispatch of goods under controlled temperature conditions. Although the country lacks a solid cold chain, the meat and pharmaceutical industries have cold storage facilities based on the capacity of their activity with limited infrastructure to provide extra spaces for sharing or renting.The greatest cold chain supply in Colombia is for national and international transportation with vehicles equipped with proper refrigeration systems.


The Ministry of Health is equipped with appropriate temperature-controlled infrastructure for the storage of strategic drugs and medical supplies for hospitals and health centers but does not share spaces due to sector policies.

According to the information available, generally speaking, compliance with the food cold chain in Colombia is poor below 60%. Even though some processes may have better results, it was found that in some cases standards are not followed, maintenance of refrigeration equipment, process environments and transport vehicles is insufficient and people working in the sector are not familiar with good practices during the process.

Cold Chain Companies

Location

Organization/ Owner

Type [1]

Cooling /Power [2]

Quantity

Total Capacity

Condition

Bogotá

Frío Trans Andina S.A.S.

Positive cold rooms

Dry, chilled and/or frozen transport services

Compression

1 freight vehicle

1–32-ton vehicles

Good

Bogotá, Barranquilla Cali, Funza, Medellín

Colfrigos

Positive cold rooms

Storage

Urban and national transport

Inventory control

Compression

6 cold rooms

20,500 m2

Good

Cali, Antioquia, Pacific Free Trade Zone

Apix S.A.S

Positive cold rooms

Temperature/humidity-controlled warehousing

Local and international transportation

Compression

4 cold rooms

12 meters high warehouses and flooring withstanding eight tons in one m2

Good

[1] Positive cold room, negative cold room, refrigerators, freezers

[2] Compression, absorption, solar, other, unspecified


Disclaimer: Provider registration shall not imply any business relationship between the provider and WFP/Logistics Cluster and be solely used as a determinant of services and capabilities. Please note, WFP/Logistics Cluster shall maintain impartiality at all times and not be in a position to endorse any comments on the suitability of any company as a reputable service provider.

Jump to top