AMB Property to invest $1.8 bln in Japan: report

TOKYO (Reuters) - U.S. warehouse operator AMB Property Corp AMB.N will spend more than 200 billion yen ($1.84 billion) over the next four years to expand its distribution facilities in Japan and is considering acquisitions, a newspaper reported on Wednesday.

Shares of AMB's largest Japanese competitor, Mitsubishi Logistics Corp (9301.T), rallied 2.3 percent to 1,213 yen as of 8:28 p.m. EDT after the paper said AMB may buy Japanese companies that own distribution facilities.

AMB Chairman Hamid Moghadam said in Japan that the company, which currently has distribution facilities at 33 sites in Japan, mainly in the greater Tokyo area, wants to double the number of its distribution facilities in Japan, the Nikkei business daily said.

AMB expects Japanese land transportation firms and major manufacturers, which are struggling to cope with the impact of higher crude oil prices on distribution costs, to increase the use of outside facilities, the report said, citing Moghadam.

The U.S. warehouse operator, which entered the Japanese market in 2003, has more total warehouse floor space than Mitsubishi Logistics.

Major Japanese land transportation companies, such as Nippon Express Co (9062.T) and Sagawa Express Co, are among AMB's clients, according to the newspaper.

(Reporting by Yumiko Nishitani; editing by Sophie Hardach)