France 3PL - Market Share Analysis, Industry Trends & Statistics, Growth Forecasts (2024 - 2029)

The France 3PL Market size is estimated at USD 32.61 billion in 2024, and is expected to reach USD 39.30 billion by 2029, growing at a CAGR of 3.81% during the forecast period (2024-2029).

French government invests more than EUR5.8 billion per year in R&D of logistics innovations backed by the attractive terms of the research tax credit of 30% on research and development expenditure up to EUR100 million, and 5% beyond that figure, provided to the companies, and multiple other financial incentives. The Government intends to extend and ramp up France's efforts in the area of innovation, maintaining a comparable level of support in the years to come and by specifically supporting disruptive innovation.

France 3PL Market Trends

Warehousing Trends in France

The increasing demand for last-mile logistics and the developed technologies in the warehousing sector is driving the companies towards outsourcing the warehousing facilities in France. Such an increase in demand by the automobile, agriculture, healthcare and e-retailers is leading the growth of the warehousing space in the market.

Among recent developments, in March 2020, Clarion Gramercy agreed to forward fund EUR122.5 million for two Grade-A warehouses in prime French logistics location. Additionally, it acquired an 18,857 sq. meter warehouse for EUR11.5 million. It will further be funding the speculative development of an institutional quality, 68,642 sq. meter warehouse, suitable for a wide range of tenants.

The online stationery shop - SURdiscount renovated its warehouse in Quimper (northern France) installing Mecalux pallet racks increasing the storage capacity by 525 pallets, providing direct access to the products, indispensable for facilitating and speeding up the centre's main operational activity of picking and order preparation.

FM Logistic, in November 2019, has expanded its capacity in Crepy-en-Valois by 16,700 sq. meter increasing its total warehousing space to 116,000 sq. meters with 22 extra loading docks and storage room for 25,400 additional pallets. The site is already being used by the company's other customers in the beauty care sector. The further expansion allows for a more efficient sharing of transport resources between these manufacturers resulting in a reduction of truck movements and carbon emissions. In addition to the warehousing space, the Crepy-en-Valois facility facilitates large co-packing operations along with pick and place robots, added to speed up the co-packing operations.

Transformation of French Automotive Logistics

The French government is launching major investment plans in the automotive sector to develop the electric, autonomous and hybrid vehicle segments that include the facilities like connected, smart and driverless vehicles, new engine types, safe, robotics, etc.

In October 2019, GEFCO Group - the European leader in automotive logistics and global multimodal supply chain expert, announced the launch of two "phygital" solutions (combining physical capabilities and digital technologies) to deliver a supreme user experience. GEFCO also acquired Chronotruck - a digital road freight marketplace and successfully created a digital platform - Moveecar to offer a through logistics service for automotive and mobility players. Moveecar's digital platform enables car-as-a-service (CaaS) players such as car makers, car dealers, fleet managers, rental and leasing companies, auctioneers, e-commerce pure players and mobility players to provide added-value car logistics throughout the vehicle life cycle.

Containerization for shipping vehicles is one of the solutions to the traditional ro-ro services. Containerization will not only solve the problem of shipping small or irregular volumes of vehicles but will also help in the shipment of new vehicles over long distances, either by truck or rail. Among recent updates on containerization, CFR Rinkens - a Global Leader in Freight Forwarding & Car Shipping, has finalised a contract to ship BMW cars from Europe to Vietnam in containers.

France 3PL Industry Overview

The market is relatively fragmented with a large number of local and international players, including DB Schenker, GEFCO, Schneider, Groupe CAT and Bollore Logistics as some of its major players.

Among recent developments, Groupe CAT inaugurated its new headquarters in Suresnes, close to Paris. The group thus brings together in a single place all employees currently spread between Boulogne and Levallois, ensuring flawless logistics activities running uninterrupted, not only for its manufacturing customers but also for the players in the automotive industry in France, Europe and around the world.

Companies are also focusing on the development of the dedicated logistics and warehousing services like in October 2019, UPS announced upgraded its healthcare-dedicated warehouse and distribution network that includes adding 1.3 million sq. feet of total distribution space in key U.S. markets and received European Union's Good Distribution Practice (GDP) compliance certification for its healthcare operations in France and Germany validating its networks as following proper standards for shipping pharmaceuticals, diagnostic products (including reagents), and stable blood products.

Exxe Group, in September 2019, acquired the France-based agricultural transport company DIONI Logistics Agri-Transport Services. With the extensive logistics facilities, DIONI offers a range of agricultural transportation services through a large fleet, including owned, leased, financed and managed in partnership of about 80 transport vehicles for the transportation of bulk grains. The company intends to double the number of trucks in 2020, as well as establish new first-class warehouses for the storage and the processing of wheat and other grains.

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