Toll Group looking to expand footprint across Asia

SUPPLY chain and logistic firm Toll Group is actively ramping up its presence in Asia and has a keen eye on India, Indonesia and Vietnam.

“Of the about US$1.2 billion of capital that we have in our plans to spend over the next three years, more than half of that is in Asia,” Alan Beacham, group managing director at Toll Group, told The Business Times (BT).

“Our next warehouse that will open in Asia will be in Mumbai next year, and that is likely to be a precinct where we would see probably two further warehouses in ensuing years.”

This does not include its most recent investment in South Korea, where Toll spent US$7 million opening a new warehouse that will be completed later this year, he added.

According to Beacham, the majority of the US$1.2 billion will be invested in warehouses.

“That represents about 30-plus per cent growth in our Asian footprint,” he said, adding that the company has already planned investments to grow its presence in Vietnam, China and Singapore. 

India is an interesting market for Toll given that the country is its fastest-growing region and is “nobody’s turf”, said Beacham.

“If you look at the big freight forwarders or supply chain companies, they’ve got a home turf whether it’s in Europe, China, the US, or us in Australia,’ he said. “India is relatively neutral. There’s still a long way to go but the structure is starting to be laid down.”

Beacham was speaking with BT at the sidelines of the launch of the S$20 million Toll Innovation Centre in Tuas on Friday (Oct 28).

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Gan Kim Yong, Minister for Trade and Industry, was the guest of honour at the event.

The investment will put Toll and Singapore at the forefront of supply chain innovation globally, said the logistics company. Among other things, the innovation centre will look at the development of new technologies such as the Internet of Things to improve resilience and transparency, as well as robotics, automation and artificial intelligence.

Some of the local startups Toll will be working with include Botsync, xSquare, Hand Plus, Cosmiqo, Viatick, Trames, Calista and CO2 Connect.