China's warehouse, storage services expand in March

China's warehouse and storage services expanded in March as economic activities warm up.
 
The Warehouse and Storage Index jumped by 10.1 percentage points from a month earlier to 57.2 percent last month, a joint survey by the China Federation of Logistics & Purchasing and CMST Development Co., LTD., showed.
 
First released in 2014, the index tracks the operation conditions of the domestic warehousing sector as well as the supply and demand of major commodities. A reading above 50 indicates expansion while a reading below 50 means contraction.
 
All sub-indices were in the expansionary range. Those for new orders, business volume, operating profits and turnover rate all surged by more than 10 percentage points.
 
Wang Yong, assistant to the president of CMST Development Co., LTD., attributed the robust warehouse and storage business growth to the arrival of a peak season for production and construction, stabilizing economic growth and a low comparison base.
 
Warehouse enterprises are upbeat about the short-term market growth as the business expectation sub-index climbed into a high range in March.