WAREHOUSE AND LOGISTICS CENTRES IN POLAND

Abstract This article analyses the distribution and development of selected logistical infrastructure facilities in Poland. The distribution of warehouse and logistics centres as well as the development of the modern warehouse space market were examined. The article presents the number of facilities and their warehouse area in 2012 and 2017. Furthermore, concentration areas of this type of infrastructure and companies that manage them were indicated, as well as potential logistics centres were characterized. The differences between a warehouse and a logistics centre were presented. The analysis was based on the Cushman & Wakefield’s offer and information published by logistics centre operators and port authorities. In 2018, there were approximately 200 warehouse centres in Poland with a total warehouse area of over 15 million m2 and only 2 logistics centres: Silesian Logistics Centre in Gliwice and CLIP Logistics in Swarzędz. The biggest industrial developers that offered warehouse area to let in 2017 were: Prologis, Logicor, Segro and Panattoni. Most of the warehouse centres provided services using exclusively road transport. #0#


Introduction
The aim of this article is to analyse the distribution and development of selected logistical infrastructure facilities in Poland. The location of warehouse and logistics centres, as well as the development of the modern warehouse space market were examined. These facilities constitute important elements of logistical infrastructure. Concentration areas of this type of infrastructure and companies managing them were indicated, as well as potential Tadeusz Bocheński logistics centres were characterized. Moreover, the differences between a warehouse and a logistics centre were presented. Attention was put on the access of such facilities to various modes of transport (multimodality).
The data regarding warehouse centres presented in the article were obtained from Cushman & Wakefield's offer. The company is one of the world's largest consultancy and intermediary companies in the field of commercial property leasing, including warehouse areas -it operates in 58 countries (Piekarski, Juściński, 2005;Przegląd rynku…, 2004).
In accordance with the definition presented by the European Association of Logistics Centres "Europlatforms", a logistics centre is a designated area where all the activities relating to transport, logistics and goods distributionboth for national and international transit are carried out. Services are provided by various entities on a commercial basis. A logistics centre should (Europlatforms, 2017): -be open to all interested companies, -be multimodal, i.e. provide access to several modes of transport and support intermodal transport, -offer public services to users, -comply with European quality and performance standards. In Polish literature, a logistics centre is most often defined as: a spatial object with its own organization and infrastructure which allow independent enterprises to perform actions on goods in relation to their storage and transportation between the sender and the recipient, including support for intermodal transport and providing various services to users (Kisperska, 2009, p. 287 Source: own elaboration based on Kisperska-Moro, Krzyżaniak (2009).
In addition to logistics centre, there can be distinguished warehouse and distribution or logistics-distribution centres. The main difference between a logistics centre and a warehouse centre is the range of offered services and access to various means of transport. A logistics centre has to have access to at least two modes of transport, and have an intermodal terminal as one of its elements. It also offers a range of services related to the supply chain management process. In most cases, a warehouse centre only includes storage facilities with an office part, and is only serviced by road (Table 1). The difference is already visible at the investment stage. Warehouse centres were built by one investor, most often industrial developers, in accordance with standard projects, whereas logistics centres were created by many entities, often with the participation of local-government. It should be emphasized that not all facilities called logistics centres are them in reality. Often the name resulted from the marketing strategy of a given company, e.g. for the determination of a finished goods warehouse or a central warehouse (Fechner, 2004).

Development of warehouse infrastructure in Poland
Warehouse facilities built by industrial developers were created as a part of Build-to-Suit (BTS) investmentstheir localization, space, as well as technical and performance characteristics were agreed with the lessee before the construction started, or as semi-speculative projects -the infrastructure did not have a predetermined lessee. The number of modern facilities and warehouse complexes in Poland has been dynamically growing in recent years. Modern warehouse areas are facilities put to use after 2000. In 2012-2017, 80 warehouse complexes, and a total of over 3.6 million m 2 of warehouse area (Table 2)   The highest concentrations of warehouse centres were located around large cities: Warszawa, Poznań, Wrocław and Łódź agglomerations, the Katowice and trójmiejska urban areas, as well as Kraków and Szczecin. On the other hand, Opolskie, Świętokrzyskie, Podlaskie and Warmińsko-Mazurskie voivodeships did not have Tadeusz Bocheński warehouse centres (Figure 1). In 2018, the first warehouse centre was opened in Białystok in Podlaskie voivodeship. At that time, the first warehouse complexes were under construction in Świętokrzyskie and Warmińsko-Mazurskie voivodeships (Cushman, Wakefield, 2018).
Warehouse centres established in Poland were focused on providing services using mainly road transport. Warehouse facilities were often located in the vicinity of road junctions on motorways and expressways, away from railway lines and stations. Only 14% of them had access to the railway in 2013 -had their own siding. A characteristic feature was that a significant part of the facilities was located near container terminals (Figure 1), which made it possible to use intermodal transport. About 42% of warehouse complexes were located within a radius of 10 km from the nearest container terminal (Bocheński, 2014).

Logistics centres in Poland
There is no network of logistics centres in Poland. Demand for modern warehouses has been met by industrial developers who have built and managed warehouse centres. The existing logistics centres were created as a result of local initiatives. This was due to the lack of national policy in the area of logistics infrastructure development (Fechner, Krzyżaniak, 2013, pp. 97-107). There can be distinguished about 10 potential logistics centres in Poland (Table 3). However, only 2 of them met most of the criteria for logistics centres: Silesian Logistics Centre in Gliwice and CLIP Logistics in Swarzędz. Source: own elaboration based on information published by managers of logistic centres and seaports.
The initiatives to create logistics centres were undertaken in, among others, the hinterland of the main ports in Gdańsk, Gdynia, Szczecin and in dry ports at the interface between normal and wide tracks in: Sławków, near Przemyśl and Małaszewicze. In 2007, Zachodniopomorskie Centrum Logistyczne was created next to DB Port Szczecin container terminal. So far, only truck parking lots have been constructed on it site, and the majority of the area remains undeveloped. In Gdańsk, in the vicinity of the DCT terminal, a warehouse centre was built by the developer Goodman (Bocheński, Palmowski, 2015). Whereas in Gdynia, the concept of creating the so-called Logistic Valley, stretching west of the port of Gdynia was developed. The Gdynia Port Authority directly invested in the construction of warehouses for rent (Gdynia Maritime Port Authority SA, 2017). The potential logistics centre was Euroterminal Sławków located within the Katowice urban area at the end of the Broad-Gauge Metallurgical Railway Line. A similar function was performed by PKP Cargo facilities in the Medyka-Żurawica reloading area near Przemyśl and Małaszewicze. There were reloading unit assemblies belonging to different operators, located at the