IN Brief:
- Nine logistics, warehousing, and professional-services organisations have joined the Supply Chain and Logistics Center.
- The expanded network covers express delivery, contract logistics, freight forwarding, cold storage, customs, and multimodal transport.
- Smaller importers, exporters, and manufacturers can access providers, market information, freight data, and specialist advice through one platform.
The Philippines’ Department of Trade and Industry has added nine organisations to the private-sector network supporting its Supply Chain and Logistics Center, widening the range of freight, warehousing, cold-chain, customs, and advisory services available through the government-backed platform.
United Parcel Service, DSV Contract Logistics, Robinsons Logistix and Industrial, SGV & Co., AC Logistics and Holdings, AP Cargo Logistics Network, Crystal Cold Storage, Magsaysay Logistics and Transport, and Orient Freight International form the latest intake. Eight provide logistics or transport services, while SGV contributes professional-services expertise.
Working alongside the centre’s existing partners, the new participants will provide operational referrals, contribute market information, and help businesses address bottlenecks in domestic and international movements. Their addition also broadens the platform’s coverage across express parcels, contract logistics, freight forwarding, industrial property, cold storage, customs, and multimodal transport.
The centre operates as a single access point for companies seeking information about shipping, warehousing, procurement, packaging, finance, customs, and export processes. Its online portal brings together service-provider details, freight-cost information, market data, and guidance intended to reduce the time spent locating suitable logistics support.
Alongside the commercial network, a Guild of Consultants comprising 33 specialists offers pro bono assistance on customs compliance, agrilogistics, temperature-controlled distribution, warehouse operations, artificial intelligence, and international trade. The advisory element gives smaller businesses a route into subjects that are often spread across several agencies and service providers.
The latest expansion is the centre’s third intake. It opened in June 2025 with 18 founding partners, including FedEx, Maersk, Grab, and 2GO Express, before adding a further group from automotive logistics, ecommerce, and customs brokerage in February 2026.
A broader operating network
By combining international carriers with Philippine operators, cold-chain specialists, and professional advisers, the centre is moving beyond a conventional directory. A manufacturer preparing an export order may need domestic collection, consolidation, export documentation, cargo insurance, international freight, destination clearance, storage, and final delivery, with each stage dependent on the previous one being completed accurately.
Those requirements become more complex across an archipelago where domestic cargo frequently moves by road, ferry, port, and air before reaching an international gateway. A route that appears competitive on its main freight leg can become uneconomic once island transfers, handling, storage, documentation, and missed connections are included.
Smaller exporters are particularly exposed to fragmented quotations because they may lack the shipment volume needed to negotiate directly with large carriers. They also have less capacity to absorb demurrage, inspection, reworking, or rejected documentation when a consignment does not move as planned.
Freight-cost information will therefore need to extend beyond published base rates. Accessorial charges, terminal handling, fuel adjustments, customs fees, storage, insurance, and inland transport can alter the landed cost materially, while service frequency and cut-off times may be more important than the lowest headline price.
Cold-chain capability is expanding at the same time. A vaccine-distribution pilot across five local government areas is testing improvements to storage, environmental control, and last-mile delivery, while a national cold-storage programme is placing modular and higher-capacity facilities closer to agricultural production zones.
Crystal Cold Storage adds direct temperature-controlled expertise to the centre, but cold infrastructure alone does not guarantee product integrity. Consistent custody, monitoring, documentation, and exception response must continue across collection, storage, port handling, international transport, and final delivery.
The inclusion of customs and professional advisers addresses a different source of delay. Incorrect tariff classification, unsuitable Incoterms, missing certificates, and incomplete destination-market documentation can create storage and rehandling costs long after the transport booking has been confirmed.
As more providers join, the quality of referrals will become as important as their number. A useful service must distinguish between an operator that can quote for a movement and one with the equipment, licences, capacity, and destination coverage required to complete it reliably.
Performance measures will eventually determine whether the platform reduces friction in practice. Response times, completed referrals, freight quotations, export transactions, resolved disputes, and repeat use would provide a clearer picture than partner numbers alone.
Regional participation will also be important because service availability remains uneven outside the principal commercial centres. Enquiries originating in production provinces need workable first-mile options, not merely access to international capacity once goods have already reached Manila, Cebu, or another major gateway.
The expanded network now contains many of the capabilities needed to support a shipment from factory or farm to an overseas customer. Its next test lies in connecting those capabilities quickly enough that smaller businesses can convert export demand into a dependable physical flow.
