The Dutch logistics market has extremely strong foundations, according to Savills’ latest ‘Spotlight: Logistics in the Netherlands 2021’ report.
Exports recovered by +32.6% in the second quarter of 2021 compared to the same quarter the year before, and sales of online retail increased exponentially in 2021. Before the pandemic, the revenue from internet sales by different parties increased by between 15% and 25% per year. This more than doubled during the pandemic, to around 45%-70%. As a result, the total take-up volume over the first three quarters of 2021 is already higher than that of 2020 in total. Compared to the same three quarters last year, take-up has risen by 30%.
Niek Poppelaars, Co-Head of Logistics & Industrial at Savills in the Netherlands, says: “Never before was the take-up of logistics properties so high in the first three quarters of a year, as it has been in 2021. Global trade, which is undergoing a rapid recovery following a dip caused by COVID-19, is largely responsible for this trend. It is expected that the demand for logistics property from this segment will continue to grow over the coming period. In addition, Brexit and e-commerce are also driving the continuing growth in the demand for Dutch logistics properties.”
The first quarter of 2021 achieved a record volume of take-up, with over one million sq. m. of logistics property being leased. This turned out not to be a one-off event: a considerable amount of logistics property was also taken up in the second and third quarter of 2021.
Major transactions in 2021 include online retailer VidaXL (approx. 140,000 sq. m.), medical distributor Alloga in Veghel (66,000 sq. m.) and Picnic in Ridderkerk (42,000 sq. m.).
In the Savills report, the take-up of various sectors from a period of five quarters before the COVID-19 pandemic have been compared with the five quarters during the pandemic. The take-up of e-commerce-related logistics increased by around 33%, from 300,000 sq. m. to 400,000 sq. m. A striking increase can also be seen in the rise in storage-related logistics and in post and couriers. Although the share of the latter remains relatively low, in absolute terms, it has tripled during the pandemic. This is in line with the rapid increase in the number of online orders.
Douglas van Oers, Co-Head of Logistics & Industrial at Savills in the Netherlands, says: “Due to the continued growth of the sector, interest in logistics property from investors keeps rising. In addition to a record take-up, logistics is also the largest investment category in the Netherlands during the first three quarters of 2021, and it would not surprise me if it will still be so as the year ends.”