Pdz Sanichi And Syed Mokthar To Build New Logistics Hub In Johor

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An interesting development for Johor which will see a huge regional logistics hub being developed by PDZ Holdings Bhd, Sanichi Technology Bhd and a company linked to the Johor state government

We hear that they are planning to build a RM1 billion logistics hub on about 300 acres of state land in Johor in an area not too far off from Singapore, and close to Senai Airport



The project is expected to start soon, pending a few more approvals from the relevant authorities

The question everyone has is whether local billionaire Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Albukhary, whose businesses are in ports and logistics is also involved in the new Johor hub

There are talks that Syed Mokhtar is interested to take a stake in PDZ, whoses shares have surged in the past one week

The stock, which had been trading around 6 sen to 8 sen as of late June this year and it shot up to as high as 25.5 sen on July 10. 
The stock traded heavily on July 8, with its price rising 11.5 sen or 127.78 per cent to 20.5 sen, giving it a market capitalisation of RM181.75 million. Some 1.33 billion shares were traded


On July 10, the stock dropped to 16 sen but inched up to as high as 25.5 with close to RM1 billion shares traded. 
PDZ has been the most active stock after it was reported that the company won a RM600 million logistics contract from a top e-commerce operator in China

There is a lot of speculation that the contract could have come from Alibaba Group or Tencent Holdings Ltd who currently dominate the China e-commerce market with platforms such as Taobao and JD.com Inc. 
Back to the logistics hub, PDZ and all other logistics players in Malaysia are looking to expand their existing facilities to make way for new business coming in because of the Covid-19 pandemic

The logistics business is doing well currently thanks to the booming e-commerce business worldwide, driven by the Covid-19 pandemic

Since the outbreak of Covid-19, more people are buying household goods online or they are doing online shopping as they fear moving around in public. 

We think the Johor hub by PDZ is to support the company's RM600 million contract win from the China e-commerce platform operator

The contract with the Chinese party may be for 2 or 3 years but we think it may be extended given the high demand for logistics services

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