The house constructions boom has driven the private investors to autoclaved cellular concrete (ACC) and bricks, as these are the basic materials used to build up a home. The market potential is great, considering that, in the case of bricks, domestic demand is half the levels logged in Hungary, a country that is two times smaller than Romania.
Two new plants and an acquisition, worth 31.4 million euros, have marked, over the last several months, the entrance, on the brick business segment, of two powerful players: the Austrian Wienerberger giant, with annual revenues of 1.8 billion euros, and constructions company CCCF, which posts more than 110 million euros in annual turnover.
Wienerberger, operating on the Romanian market since 1998, last autumn turned from an importer into a producer. The Austrians are now present on the domestic market with two plants: one that was built from scrap in Gura Ocnitei (near Targoviste) through an investment worth 18 million euros, and the other in Sibiu, bought this February from CEMA SA. The value of the takeover deal stood at 9 million euros, including the existent capacity upgrades, according to the group’s representatives.
Wienerberger received funding from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) for the investment made in Gura Ocnitei. The plant holds a total capacity of about 135 million Normal Format units (Normal Format being a measuring unit for bricks).
The group plans to cover brick demand in Romania’s central and eastern regions through its plants, while imports from the plants the group operates in Hungary will be destined to the western area of the country.
On the other hand, CCCF, one of the top two constructions companies on the Romanian market, will enter the bricks market this spring through a plant built in Giurgiu, under an investment revolving around 4.4 million euros.
“I expect that we will be able to launch brick production in Giurgiu in two-three weeks. The output will be mainly aimed at the Romanian market, but we will also try to approach the Bulgarian market through exports, considering the proximity,” Nicolae Constantinescu, CCCF general manager, told Ziarul Financiar. The capacity of the Giurgiu-based plant is thought to come to about 40 million NF units.
adrian.mirsanu@zf.ro