Soceram shareholders to invest 150m euros in several factories

Soceram Bucharest says it will invest around 150 million euros in the next two or three years to build nine factories that will manufacture construction supplies, seven of which will make ACC and two that will make bricks. “We decided two years ago to begin an extensive investment plan because we were unable to cope with the market demand. We are now finishing talks to buy some ACC manufacturing lines based on the German manufacturing technology Ytong and some burnt brick lines, which along with the buildings will be worth 150 million euros,” said Roxana Gheorghe, chairperson of the Board of Directors of Soceram. According to Soceram’s representatives, all factories will be operational in 2009 and will only manufacture environment-friendly materials. The investment will be 20% self-funded, with the rest coming from loans granted by Bancpost, Piraeus Bank, Banca Romaneasca, Credit Europe and MKB Romexterra. The company has already bought two ACC manufacturing lines and one that makes bricks, and intends to acquire the rest by mid next year. “The construction supplies market will continue to grow over the next five to seven years and can accommodate new players. Our strategy is to build factories in areas where there are no brick or ACC manufacturers, or where already establish factories are only capable of low capacities,” Gheorghe explains.