Rehau makes plastic pipes

Germany-based Rehau has started making PVC and polyethylene pipes at its Sibiu facility this May, after having imported such products for this market for seven years. Rehau is the second foreign investor on a market, which sources in the industry estimate to be worth some 50 million euros a year. The German group will officially dedicate the facility in Sibiu on July 25, following a 5.5 million euro investment. As soon as the factory began production, the number of employees in Romania doubled to 100. International PipeLife group (a joint venture of Austria’s Wienerberger and Belgium’s Solvay) has been operating as a producer on the Romanian market through its Miercurea-Ciuc-based factory since 1998 and its initial capacity reached 3,500 tonnes a year. Other significant players are Valrom or Teraplast, which account for some 20-25% market share, along with Palplast Sibiu (a company part of the Rompetrol Group). The market has a lot of potential because of the ongoing investments in restoring the water, sewer and water filtering networks in very many cities across the country. These investments are worth tens of millions of euros. ZF