Southern industrial property rents soar

In Binh Duong, Ba Ria –Vung Tau and Dong Nai provinces they rose to three-month highs of $110, $180 and $195, property consultancy Cushman & Wakefield said in a note.

While these were the highest annual rentals in each locality, the average rate in the south was $132, the report said.

The five main localities (HCMC, Binh Duong, Dong Nai, Long An, and Ba Ria – Vung Tau) saw rents rise by 8-13 percent year-on-year.

Thanh Pham, deputy director of CBRE Vietnam’s research and consultancy department, said there is strong demand for southern industrial property as shown by the high number of commitments customers have made.

Huynh Buu Tran, CEO of industrial property consultancy KCN Vietnam, said the number of businesses seeking to expand manufacturing surged in the south in the first six months, pushing up prices.

Trang Bui, CEO of Cushman & Wakefield, said industrial parks in southern Vietnam were established earlier than in the central and northern regions, and the fact these parks have good connectivity with Ho Chi Minh City makes them desirable locations to put up factories.

She forecast rapid development of logistics infrastructure to meet the needs of the booming e-commerce sector in the next three years.

Vietnamese ports saw 370.8 million tons of goods passing through them in the first six months, up 2 percent year-on-year, according to the Vietnam Maritime Administration.

HCMC and Ba Ria – Vung Tau ports together accounted for nearly 31 percent of that.