Most expensive facelift in Romanian cement industry

Turning a Romanian cement factory into a productive facility able to thrive on the European market can be as expensive for a foreign investor as building it from scratch. One of the few investors that dared take this route was Swiss Holcim Group, which, after having bought the factory in Alesd (Bihor County) from Lafarge, has spent about 70 million euros on refurbishment and retooling in the last two and a half years, practically rebuilding it from the ground up.

The Swiss are running Romania’s biggest investment project at Alesd, announcing they will spend another 20 million euros by the end of next year.

Sources on the market say the funds allocated by Holcim for the retooling of the cement factory in Alesd are nearly double the price the Swiss paid in 2000. Holcim’s officials did not provide any details as to the value of the deal that turned them into owners of the Alesd facility.

“Our investment in Alesd (Bihor) does not mean we did not invest in the other factories, but the situation here did not allow for a gradual upgrade of the factory, only for emergency measures,” said Kurt Habersatter, chairman and CEO of Holcim Romania, the Swiss Group’s branch. Holcim has invested approximately 270 million euros since entering the Romanian market in 1997. The investments include the cost of the acquisitions and investments in industrial operations.

The Alesd facility was sold by Lafarge, which accounted for 42% of the cement market at the time, following the acquisition of Romcim in 1997, which had four of the nine facilities operating on the market back then.

The factory in Alesd has a strategic market position as far as Holcim is concerned, because it covers the northern and western areas of Romania, together with its factory in Turda.
adrian.mirsanu@zf.ro ; transilvania@zf.ro