In recent days, MercadoLibre inaugurated its second distribution center, which covers an area of 43,000 square meters, equivalent to 10 professional soccer fields combined, and is positioned as the largest warehousing center in the country and one of the five largest in Latin America.

This investment is part of an expansion plan with a budget of USD 100 million through 2022, which also includes plans to open eight additional wineries in the regions of Antofagasta, Coquimbo, Valparaíso, O'Higgins, Maule, Temuco, and Los Lagos.

The expansion strategy pursued by the online retail giant is in line with market trends for this type of real estate asset, which has experienced explosive growth over the past year and is expected to continue growing in the coming years.

The latest projection by the Central Bank on expected economic growth for this year is between 8.5% and 9.5% annually. These figures, combined with the rapid penetration of e-commerce and the progressive increase in this sales channel, have led to a significant increase in demand for storage space required by the online commerce supply chain. This situation has led to a decrease in warehouse vacancy rates, reaching record levels in recent years, at 1.48%. In addition, supply has kept pace with the increase in demand, with approximately 200,000 m² expected to come on stream for the remainder of the year.

In terms of market share, the West Zone accounts for 40% of the total leasable area, followed by the North-West Zone with 24%. Next comes the North Zone with 18%, and finally the South and Central Zones, which have a lower concentration of supply.

with 13% and 6% respectively.

As for rental prices in the warehouse market, they closed at 0.120 UF/m², up 7% year-on-year.