(Yicai) June 18 -- Chinese home furnishing company Loctek Ergonomic Technology plans to invest USD78 million to build a warehouse in the United States to enhance its competitiveness and accelerate the development of its overseas warehouse business.

Loctek’s subsidiary Ellabell Bryan Lecangs will invest in the project, having already hired US real estate giant Clayco to design and build the warehouse, the Ningbo-based parent company announced yesterday.

Located in the US state of Georgia, the warehouse is expected to be completed by the end of next year, Loctek noted. Its land and construction areas are around 310,435 square meters and 92,900 sqm, respectively.

The project will enhance Loctek’s overseas warehouse service capacity, give full play to scale effects, improve its profitability, and realize the joint development of its smart home and overseas warehouse businesses, the company added.

With the rapid development of the cross-border e-commerce industry, the demand for overseas warehouses is surging, according to Loctek. The firm has already purchased about 3.3 million sqm of land around core ports in the US, which can be used to build overseas warehouses with a total area of about 1.5 million sqm.

Loctek’s shares [SHE: 300729] were trading up 1.1 percent at CNY15.97 (USD2.20) as of 10.50 a.m. in Shenzhen today.

Editor: Futura Costaglione