IN Brief:
- Movianto has expanded its Aalst facility from 14,000 to 25,000 temperature-controlled pallet positions.
- The site supports ambient, refrigerated, frozen, and ultra-cold healthcare logistics requirements.
- The expansion adds hazardous goods and narcotics areas, bonded warehouse capability, clinical trial services, and sustainability measures.
Movianto, part of Yusen Logistics, has expanded its healthcare logistics facility in Aalst, Belgium, increasing temperature-controlled pallet storage capacity from 14,000 to 25,000 positions.
The expanded site is now fully operational and provides storage for pharmaceutical and medical products across ambient, refrigerated, frozen, and ultra-cold temperature ranges. The temperature bands include 15°C to 25°C, 2°C to 8°C, -20°C, and -80°C.
The facility supports EU Good Distribution Practice requirements for medicinal products, TAPA security standards, and ISO quality certifications. The multi-user warehouse is designed for customers needing compliant storage, international freight forwarding links, customs support, and specialist healthcare services.
New areas have been added for hazardous goods and narcotics in response to rising demand. The hazardous goods area provides 576 pallet positions within a controlled 15°C to 25°C environment and includes in-rack sprinklers on every level. The local team is expected to increase from around 100 to 150 employees.
The Aalst site is also licensed as a bonded warehouse, allowing goods in transit to be stored duty-free and supporting customs clearance for EU imports and exports. Storage can be combined with clinical trial logistics and GMP-licensed activities, including secondary packaging and country-specific adaptations such as leaflet changes.
Sustainability measures are built into both the original facility and the expansion. A rooftop photovoltaic system is expected to supply around half of projected electricity demand, compared with around 30% previously. Heating and cooling of the ambient warehouse are provided by a heat pump, while the cool warehouse uses natural CO₂ refrigerant. LED lighting, motion sensors, rainwater harvesting, and permeable parking surfaces are also included.
Healthcare logistics is becoming more integrated as pharmaceutical companies look to reduce handoffs between storage, forwarding, customs, packaging, and clinical trial services. Combining these functions in one controlled environment can improve inventory visibility, reduce operational complexity, and strengthen compliance management.
Belgium remains a strong healthcare logistics gateway because of its central European location, air cargo links, road network, and pharmaceutical cluster. Aalst’s bonded status strengthens that role by allowing non-European goods to be stored and cleared with greater flexibility as they move into, through, or out of the EU.
The country’s specialist capacity is expanding around several logistics nodes, with new pharma and general cargo estate development at Brussels Airport adding further controlled logistics capability. Movianto’s Aalst expansion reinforces Belgium’s position as a practical base for temperature-sensitive healthcare distribution.
The technical requirements continue to rise. More healthcare products require narrow temperature control, stronger documentation, higher security, or more complex release processes. Clinical trial logistics adds another layer because shipments can be patient-specific, country-specific, and tied to strict documentation windows.
Energy performance is becoming harder to separate from compliance. Temperature-controlled facilities consume substantial power, yet healthcare customers cannot compromise product integrity to reduce emissions. Solar generation, heat pumps, CO₂ refrigeration, and efficient lighting allow operators to improve the environmental profile of the building while maintaining validated product conditions.
Yusen Logistics gains additional specialist capability through Movianto’s expansion, while healthcare customers gain compliant, multi-temperature capacity in a European gateway location. As pharma supply chains become more global, more regulated, and more temperature-sensitive, facilities such as Aalst are becoming core infrastructure rather than overflow storage.
