Saint-Gobain drops plans for two factories

French group Saint-Gobain, whose annual business stands at 44.8 billion euros, this year decided to postpone construction of a mortar factory in Suceava and of an abrasive production facility in Turda, as a result of financial hardships caused by the financial crisis.

The French have invested more than 230 million euros in the last four years, and are the most aggressive investors in the constructions industry, with the two production facilities postponed set to require more than 10 million euros, according to information on the market.

Saint-Gobain Weber Romania, the group’s mortars division, postponed the building of the third mortar factory indefinitely, even though it already had the plot of land, which it bought last year.

“The current state of the economy made the Saint Gobain group postpone these investments. We will resume the project when we get the approval,” said Cristina Stoian, assistant manager of Saint-Gobain Weber Romania.

The factory was supposed to be completed in the first half of 2009 and the investment value was up to several factors, one of which was the budget the French group allocated to the project.

The company owns two factories in Turda, Cluj county, which it bought in 2002 and in Branesti, Ilfov county, which it completed last year.

Saint-Gobain announced at the beginning of this year that it had also dropped plans to build an abrasives factory. The production facility was supposed to serve the entire SE region, but representatives for the company did not specify the value of the investment. The works will be resumed when the market starts growing again.

Still, the French will invest in the expansion of the plasterboard production facility in Turda of the Rigips company this year. Saint Gobain took over British plasterboard producer BPB, which operated in Romania via Rigips Romania (now Saint-Gobain Products Romania), in 2005 and owns three production facilities in Turda.

The biggest investment of the French and one of the biggest in the constructions industry after 1989 was the building of a glass factory in Calarasi, worth some 130 million euros. The investment was started in 2005 and completed at the beginning of 2007.