Shopee opens five new distribution centers in Brazil - report

FILE PHOTO: A signage of Shopee, the e-commerce arm of Sea Ltd, is pictured at its office in Singapore, March 5, 2021. REUTERS/Edgar Su

SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Singaporean shopping app Shopee, owned by Sea Ltd, has opened five new distribution centers in Brazil in recent months to improve shipping processes and cut lead times, Brazilian newspaper Valor reported on Tuesday.

Shopee has become one of Brazil's most-downloaded e-commerce apps since its launch there in 2019, drawing users to its low-cost marketplace.

The company told Valor that the new centers are located in the cities of Sao Joao do Meriti, Campinas, Ribeirao Preto, Contagem and Santana do Parnaiba.

Shopee has a high volume of sales of low unit price goods, which means greater turnover of thousands of products per day requiring a robust distribution system, the report said.

In mid-May the company beat quarterly sales estimates and posted a smaller-than-expected quarterly loss, driven by strength in its core e-commerce operations and digital payments business.

After a meteoric run in 2020 and part of 2021, with multiple quarters of triple-digital revenue growth and expansion into newer markets including Mexico, Spain and South Korea, Sea's growth dwindled as the pandemic-fuelled boom in e-commerce and digital entertainment shrank.

In March, the company announced it had pulled out of India and France, while rising costs and supply chain issues added to its troubles, driving Sea shares 70% lower this year.

Shopee did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment.

(Reporting by Steven Grattan in Sao Paulo; Editing by Jan Harvey)