Cement producer Lafarge Romania last week announced an increase by about 28% in its turnover in the first half of this year, in the context where the Romanian cement market is expected to rise by 4-5% in 2004.
Lafarge Romcim, the company’s most important unit, registered sales worth 60 million euros in the first half, according to financial manager Marcel Cobuz.
The group is carrying out an investment programme standing at 20 million euros for this year and plans to increase its focus on the domestic market, amid the growth of the Romanian economy.
Lafarge representatives did not specify the value of H1 sales at the level of the entire group. In 2003, the group posted turnover worth 160 million euros.
Lafarge, the world’s top producer of construction materials, operates on several construction supplies sectors (cement, plaster, aggregates, concrete) in Romania and has acquired a harbour operator, SICIM Constanta this year.
Representatives of Lafarge Romania say all the company’s activities will witness growth this year, since this year’s favourable weather conditions will positively influence sales. Overall, at the level of the entire year, the group is expecting a general increase by 17%.
“We believe the construction materials market is witnessing a positive trend that will deepen over the following years due to the increase in personal incomes and of the inflow of funds from the European Union to prepare Romania for integration. We expect the cement market to continue to grow in 2004 by about 4%, mainly because of new projects and to a lesser extent because of renovation works. Public works can play a boosting role should projects announced for highways progress without delays,” states Philippe Questiaux, chairman of Lafarge Romcim.
At present, most activities of Lafarge in Romania are carried out through Lafarge Romcim (cement), Lafarge Agregate (aggregates and concrete), Lafarge Arcom Gips (plasterboard), Bramac and Schiedel (roofs and chimneys) and, starting this year, through harbour operator Sicim Constanta.
The investment programme Lafarge plans to run during the 2004-2006 period amounts to 45 million euros and includes environment projects and projects aimed at the modernisation of production capacities.
The project includes the introduction of some special packages for cement, of the slim bags type, as well as the modernisation of storage installations of Sicim, the whose storage capacity stands at 40,000 tonnes.
dan.zavoianu@zf.ro