Demand in Romania's industrial and logistics market reached 456,000 square meters in the first nine months of 2017, close to the level recorded for the whole last year when it cumulated 463,000 square meters.

Over 70% of the leased area, respectively 330,000 square meters, represents new demand (new contracts, pre-rentals). New demand in total take-up grew over the same period last year, reflecting in declining of vacancy rates. Renegotiations and contract renewals have accumulated 126,000 square meters of industrial and logistics space.

A total of 56% of total demand was targeted by Bucharest, as logistics companies generated more than half of the demand, with 250,000 square meters of spaces taken over across the country. Almost a quarter of the leased area was contracted by production companies.

Piteşti (50,000 sqm), Timişoara (45,000 sqm), Roman (31,000 sqm) and Cluj (25,250 sqm) are other cities where significant transactions in the industrial and logistics segment were concluded during the analyzed period.

"The demand for industrial premises is maintained at a high level and confirms the clients' appetite for expansion, proof being the fact that in the first nine months of this year the total volume represents 98% of that recorded in the entire year 2016", said Costin Bănică, Associate Director, Head of Industrial Agency JLL Romania.

In terms of supply, over the first nine months, projects totaling more than 210,000 square meters have been delivered across the country, so the stock at the end of September was nearly 3 million square meters, of which 1.5 million square meters in Bucharest.

Another 140,000 square meters of industrial space are announced to be delivered this year, both new projects and extensions of existing schemes, leading to the overall level of deliveries of industrial spaces over the one recorded in 2016 and confirming the appetite of customers and developers for expansion. The vacancy rate is below 5% in Bucharest and 7-10% outside the capital.

"The supply of industrial space has kept pace with increased demand. Investors have tasted this year's success of speculative developments and have enjoyed high demand for this type of space as well. The tenants have maintained their preference for the construction sites and have focused mainly on projects under development, at the expense of those still in the project stage", comments Costin Bănică, Associate Director, Head of Industrial Agency JLL Romania.

Rents remains constant, the level being influenced, only punctually, by the vacancy rate of each project.

"The occupancy cost in Bucharest is strongly influenced by the reduced availability of spaces. With the recently announced entry of a new developer on the market, we expect the competition on the industrial segment in Bucharest to increase", said Costin Banica, Associate Director, Head of Industrial Agency JLL Romania.

The main 5 new contracts signed in Q3:

Tenant	Project	Area
Ceva Logistics	WDP Park Pitesti	29,000	logistică
Inteva	WDP Park Oradea	15.000	Producție
SHW Automotive	Eurorent Airport Park	10.200	Producție/Automotive
Aquila	SNS Park	10.000	Distributie
TE connectivity	WDP Timisoara	10.000	Automotive

About JLL

JLL (NYSE: JLL) is a leading professional services firm that specializes in real estate and investment management. A Fortune 500 company, JLL helps real estate owners, occupiers and investors achieve their business ambitions. In 2016, JLL had revenue of $6.8 billion and fee revenue of $5.8 billion and, on behalf of clients, managed 4.4 billion square feet, or 409 million square meters, and completed sales acquisitions and finance transactions of approximately $136 billion. At year-end 2016, JLL had nearly 300 corporate offices, operations in over 80 countries and a global workforce of more than 77,000. As of December 31, 2016, LaSalle Investment Management has $60.1 billion of real estate under asset management. JLL is the brand name, and a registered trademark, of Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated. For further information, visit www.jll.com.