In recent days, MercadoLibre's second distribution center was inaugurated, with 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 5 largest in Latin America.

This investment is part of an expansion plan with a budget of US$100 million through 2022, where it is expected to open another 8 warehouses in the regions of Antofagasta, Coquimbo, Valparaíso, O'Higgins, Maule, Temuco and Los Lagos.

The expansion strategy experienced by the online sales giant goes in the same direction as what the market has seen in this type of real estate assets, which has experienced explosive growth over the last year and is expected to continue to grow over the next few years.

The latest projection made by the Central Bank on the expected economic growth for this year is between 8.5% and 9.5% per year, figures that added to the rapid penetration of e-commerce and the progressive increase of this sales channel, produced a significant increase in the demand for storage space required by the supply chain of online commerce. This situation has generated a decrease in warehouse vacancy, reaching record levels in recent years, reaching 1.48%. In addition, supply has kept pace with the increase in demand, with approximately 200,000 m2 expected to be added during 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%. It is followed by the North Zone with 18% and finally the South and Central Zones, which have a lower concentration of leasable supply.

with 13% and 6%, respectively.

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