M A R K E T B E AT CHENNAI Industrial Q2 2020 Manufacturing and Warehousing Suffer a Temporary Disruption due to COVID-19 The large-scale supply chain disruptions in the wake of COVID-19 led to a slowdown in Chennai’s manufacturing operations and even demand for warehousing facilities in H1 2020 declined by 95% when compared to the half yearly absorption in H2 2019. With the lockdown in place and labour movement restricted, manufacturing companies in the city halted their expansion plans and focused on operating their production facilities with minimal labour as per the regulations HALF YEARLY GROWTH IN INDUSTRIAL specified by the government. In the early months of the year, a few warehousing transactions from the e-commerce, logistics and automotive sectors were recorded in 4% RENT IN ORAGADAM the Oragadam, Thirumazhisai and Sholavaram submarkets. Most of the transactions, which were in the last leg of discussion during this period, were delayed due to the lockdown with stakeholders adopting a cautious approach amid rising business uncertainty. Addition of new supply of warehousing facilities also got affected with the construction activity coming to a complete halt. However, Chennai’s status as a leading industrial centre of the country means that the city is likely to attract 3.85% Y-O-Y GROWTH IN WAREHOUSING industrial and manufacturing investments over the medium to long term. The current disruption is, therefore, likely to be a short-term phenomenon and demand for RENT IN POONAMALLEE large warehousing space could witness healthy recovery from early 2021. Over the next few quarters, steady growth in demand for warehousing space is expected in the Mannur – Mappedu cluster, with substantial enquiries from e-commerce, FMCG and pharmaceutical occupiers. 0.16 msf SPACE LEASED BY AMAZON Marginal drop in industrial rentals in H1 2020 Due to the sharp, albeit short-term slowdown in demand for warehousing spaces following the lockdown, industrial and warehousing rentals declined by 1.76% and 0.91% respectively on average in H1’20 on compared to H2’19. However, different corridors have seen varying trends in terms of rental movement. The last six months have been slow and marginal rent correction has been driven by occupier negotiations and landlord flexibility. Warehousing rentals dropped by 0.2% y-o-y in the Ambattur, Manali and Maraimalai Nagar clusters, while combined manufacturing and warehousing rentals in the Manali, Mannur and Maraimalai Nagar clusters witnessed a drop of around 4-5%. On the other hand, Poonamallee, Oragadam and Irungattukottai in the warehousing sector and Gummidipoondi, in the manufacturing sector witnessed a half yearly rise of around 4-7% in rents. Industrial rents in Chennai are expected to stabilize by early 2021 with an expected recovery in ECONOMIC INDICATORS Q2 2020 manufacturing activity. In fact, rents may also increase in the major industrial corridors if supply does not keep pace with higher demand from logistics and manufacturing companies. 2021 2019 2020 Forecast Government backs the industrial sector with a slew of initiatives In recent months, the Tamil Nadu government has taken a number of steps to facilitate industrial investments, which will position Chennai as an attractive industrial GDP Growth 4.2% -3.0% 6.2% centre for global investors. For instance, the government has announced an Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) Park with an investment of around INR 770 crore. The new 650 acre API Park, which will manufacture bulk drugs for finished dosages, will come up in Cheyyar SIPCOT with amenities such as modern warehouses, R&D centres and waste treatment facilities. This is likely to boost demand for warehousing spaces substantially over the medium to long term and incentivize CPI Growth 3.4% 4.1% 4.2% investments by global PE funds. The planned API Park is also expected to curb imports of critical pharmaceutical ingredients and facilitate development of local manufacturing expertise. The state government has also signed 17 MoUs with investors for projects such as manufacturing of commercial vehicles, windmill Consumer equipment, semiconductor chips, etc. Dedicated housing facilities for employees in all 20 SIPCOT Parks and other industrial clusters such as Ambur and Vaniyambadi 5.0% -0.5% 5.8% Spending is a part of a new industrial policy which is likely to be unveiled in the next few months. We expect that the proposed investments, supported by enabling industrial regulations, will drive steady growth in Chennai’s industrial sector, especially for modern warehousing facilities, over the long term. Govt. Final Expenditure 13.2% 12.8% 11.5% INDUSTRIAL RENT / Y-O-Y GROWTH WAREHOUSING RENT / Y-O-Y GROWTH Growth 30 10% 30 10% 25 25 Source: Oxford Economics, IMF, RBI 5% 5% 20 20 15 0% 15 0% 10 10 -5% -5% 5 5 0 -10% 0 -10% INDUSTRIAL RENT (H1 2020) INDUSTRIAL RENT Y-o-Y GROWTH WAREHOUSING RENT (H1 2020) WAREHOUSING RENT Y-o-Y GROWTH M A R K E T B E AT CHENNAI Industrial Q2 2020 LAND RATES – JUNE 2020 INR US$ EURO Y-O-Y SUBMARKET MN/ACRE MN/ACRE MN/ACRE Change Ambattur 180 2.12 2.11 13% Poonamallee 100 1.32 1.17 0% Sriperumbudur – Oragadam 25 0.32 0.29 4% Irungattukottai 25 0.33 0.29 0% Madhavaram 75 0.93 0.88 25% Gummidipoondi 15 0.17 0.16 0% Periyapalayam road 16 0.21 0.20 0% Manali 36 0.46 0.44 125% Mannur 14 0.17 0.16 8% Maraimalai Nagar 45 0.60 0.57 0% Percentage growth are in local currency; Y-O-Y – Year on Year Conversion Rate: US$1= INR 75.6 and Euro 1 = INR 85.3 * Historical land rates for certain submarkets have been revised. Rohan Sharma SIGNIFICANT TRANSACTIONS H1 2020 Director, Research Services +91 124 4695555 /[email protected] Buyer/Lessee Seller/Lessor Type Submarket Area (sf) Kapil Kanala Aptive Sanlandmark Warehouse Oragadam 70,000 Associate Director, Research Services +91 40 40405555 /[email protected] Amazon Olympia Warehouse Thirumazhisai 1,60,000 cushmanwakefield.com Gati Arihanth Warehouse Sholavaram 1,00,000 A CUSHMAN & WAKEFIELD RESEARCH PUBLICATION KEY SALES TRANSACTIONS H1 2020 Cushman & Wakefield (NYSE: CWK) is a leading global real estate services firm that delivers exceptional value for Buyer/Lessee ` Type Submarket Area real estate occupiers and owners. Cushman & Wakefield is Netmagic HCL Land Ambattur 5.8 Acre among the largest real estate services firms with approximately 51,000 employees in 400 offices and 70 Panasonic Sricity Land GNT Road 25 Acre countries. In 2018, the firm had revenue of $8.2 billion across core services of property, facilities and project Land management, leasing, capital markets, valuation and other Olympia Akshaya & Motilal Oswal Thoraipakkam 1 Acre services. Sai University Ascendas Land Thiruporur 190 Acre ©2020 Cushman & Wakefield. All rights reserved. The information contained within this report is gathered from multiple sources believed to be reliable. The information may contain errors or omissions and is presented without any warranty or representations as to its accuracy..