Concrete producers considering setting up new factories to cope with high demand

The producers are now looking into building new factories to cope with the ever increasing demand and an expected doubling of the market in five years.

French group Lafarge's local subsidiary yesterday announced a €100 mln investment to expand its concrete production capacities by the end of next year. The President of Lafarge Romania's cement division, Philippe Questiaux, said the group is considering opening a new factory in Romania, given the market is expected to grow significantly, to almost double, in the coming years. Lafarge could invest as much as €200 million in building a new production unit, but a final decision will be made next year, Questiaux added.

Holcim Romania's General Manager, Markus Wirth, recently said the Swiss group is considering building a new factory if investments to increase production capacities by 2011, worth €180 million, are insufficient to meet market demand. Wirth added that no decision has been made on the issue yet.

"The Romanian market will amount to 18 million tons in the next five to eight years, but this evolution will depend on Romania's ability to manage infrastructure projects," Wirth told Business Standard.

Carpatcement Holding's President, Mihai Rohan, also said his company was considering building a new concrete factory, if other investments to increase its production capacity prove insufficient. Carpatcement Holding, the local division of German HeidelbergCement group, has plans to invest €55 mln in the next two years to expand its current production unit. The company also plans to double production capacity to 6.4 million tons by 2011.

Rohan agrees that the market will grow dramatically in the next few years. He expects this to reach 10.2 million tons by the end of the year, and to exceed 20 million tons in the next five years.

Last year’s market amounted to some seven million tons.