BPB builds plasterboard plant in Romania

British group BPB, one of the world’s top producers of plasterboard, will build a plasterboard plant in Romania to meet the growing demand on this market. The investment, estimated to exceed 20-25 million euros, will strengthen the top position the domestic branch of the group, Rigips Romania, holds on the market. Thus, besides being an importer, Rigips Romania will also become a producer of plasterboard. On this segment, the company will directly compete with Lafarge Arcom Gips, the only producer of wallboard that is 90% held by the French Lafarge Group.

“In order to meet the anticipated growing demand of plasterboard, a new plant is going to be built in Romania, besides our plaster plant in Turda, which will be finalised in 2005,” reads the annual 2003/2004 report released by the British group.

Sources close to the project confirmed for Ziarul Financiar the fact that Romania was the market the British group had chosen to unfold the respective investment. The choice was made after several years of research conducted in some states of this region.

The plasterboard market, which was assessed at 16.5 million sqm last year, is divided among Rigips Romania, credited with a share of about 35-40%, Knauf Romania (the domestic branch of a German family business) and Lafarge Arcom Gips (holding about 25%, according to its own estimations). Other players operating on this market are the Norwegians of Norgips, and more recently, the Turks of ABS, according to the latest market information. If looking at their value, the annual sales of plasterboard in Romania range between 45 and 50 million euros, according to some calculations. For this year, the market is projected to grow at a 20% pace, some market players say.

The Romanian plasterboard market is rising, but is still far below the level of other markets in the region and in Europe. With an average consumption rate of 0.75 sqm per capita, Romania lags behind Poland, the Czech Republic or Hungary, with an average of 1.7 sqm per capita, France, with 3.4 sqm per capita, the Scandinavian states with an average rate ranging between 5 and 6.7 sqm per capita or the United States with 9.7-10 sqm.