CEDER 2025 in review: Opportunities and Challenges in Romania's Logistics Market

Among the themes discussed during the “Sector-Specific Trends, Part 1” panel held at CEDER 2025 was Romania’s logistics and industrial sector, a vital component of the local real estate market. About this sector, moderator Silviu Stratulat, Managing Partner of Stratulat Albulescu Attorney at Law, stated: “Very few sectors are evolving at this time as rapidly as logistics”.

Gijs Klomp, Business Development Manager at WDP Romania, a logistics and industrial developer, agreed and characterised the sector as “the right place” to be in and “a very defensive sector”, noting that “whatever happens, usually goods need to be stored in order to be moved to customers”.

Gijs Klomp described “two components of demand”: the ongoing blend of physical and online retail, with online sales requiring significantly more warehouse space than traditional models, and a notable segment dedicated to light industrial and production spaces, particularly outside the capital.

One emerging opportunity is nearshoring, with Gijs Klomp stating, “Today we see that people are more interested in nearshoring, because of all the tariff discussions that are going on, which is positive for Romania”. However, this positive trend is counterbalanced by rising costs, particularly labour: “Romania has overtaken Hungary and it's now on a similar level as Slovakia and the Czech Republic, when it comes to the minimum wage. […] And, of course, this makes Romania no longer a cheap or cost-efficient alternative, which of course will eventually slow down demand”.

Market dynamics, such as consolidation by major players, like CTP, also present challenges. Gijs Klomp observed that this “increases the entry barrier for other developers and investors to come”. However, on a positive note, he stated: “I think it's good to see that CTP and others, including ourselves, we are increasing still our presence. We are committing to buy more in Romania because we're a long-time believer in the country.”

The potential end of the conflict in Ukraine brings a complex outlook. On one hand, the Business Development Manager of WDP Romania anticipated that “if Ukraine gets into a stable peace and there will be a concentrated effort on rebuilding Ukraine, there will be a large need for goods to be shipped there. […] So, we will see indeed an uptake in logistics demand in Romania […], positioned to be a feeding corridor, because we have Constanța, we will have the A7 highway”. Conversely, Ukraine's lower minimum wage means “people will want to leverage on that as well, which will mean competition for our country”.

Furthermore, anticipated VAT increases will also impact costs, with the question being “will the market allow us and others to pass it on to our clients”.