Smartpost’s new sorting centre construction has started

The construction of the new Smartpost Itella sorting centre in Rae municipality started today. The construction works are planned to be completed at the beginning of 2025 with the total cost of the investment projected to be about 14 million euros. Smartpost Itella is part of the Finnish Group Posti and the new sorting centre will be the largest among Posti’s sorting centres in the Baltics. The construction of the building will be carried out by NOBE.

“Due to the sharp surge in the parcel volumes, we have outgrown the capacity of the existing sorting centre and we need to take a qualitative step forward,” said Erich Jeerik, Smartpost Itella’s Estonian operations manager. “Therefore, with the construction of a new sorting centre, we are increasing the company’s capability to keep up with the rapid change in consumer behaviour and continue to meet the growing demand of e-commerce in the market,” added Jeerik.

The new sorting centre will be approximately 7500 square meters in size. With the construction of the new terminal, the processes will be more automated and the sorting line’s handling capacity will more than double. There is the potential to extend the terminal by up to 2400 square metres further in the future.

Smartpost was recently chosen as one of the most recommended services in Estonia. Since last November, Estonian residents have ordered an average of 30% more parcels to Smartpost’s parcel lockers every month than the year prior. According to the Estonian E-Commerce Association, the use of parcel lockers in Estonia has increased by 17% in the last 12 months. “Forecasts indicate that rapid growth will continue. We need to be able to maintain the quality of being the market-leader during the busiest shopping periods as well, when the volume of parcels passing through the sorting centre soars. We are also partners of many internationally known operators in the Baltics and this establishes high standards that we wish to maintain. The new sorting centre makes it possible,” said the representative of Smartpost Itella.

The sorting centre’s sensor system with a smart house concept enables the remote control of several processes, such as energy efficiency. Moreover, the building will have a significant electric car charging capacity. “When we started planning the expansion with the sorting centre in 2019, electric cars were not utilised as much as they are today. We made the changes in the idea and the new sorting centre is planned to have the capacity to charge 82 electric cars by 2030, which we will implement in stages,” said Jeerik.

Priit Nigols, construction director and board member of NOBE, said that NOBE engineers have always been inspired by innovative and future-oriented projects. “We are happy and grateful that Smartpost Itella has chosen us as a construction partner for its new logistics centre. Our extensive experience in building similar facilities allows us to offer flexibility and efficiency throughout the entire construction process with a quick completion guarantee,” said Nigols.

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