Lasselsberger: Distribution on constructions market is more chaotic than in FMCG

Austrian group Lasselsberger, which has been left with one single ceramic tiles plant in Cluj, after it closed down the Cesarom Bucuresti and the Mondial Lugoj plant, says it will consider building a new plant on the Romanian market when consumption will be 60% higher than the 2009 level, estimated at 200 million euros.
The Austrians have budgeted a similar turnover this year to the 2008 one in RON, of around 162.7 million RON (44 million euros), posted by Sanex Cluj-Napoca and by Lasselsberger, after tripling their distribution network and entering all DIY stores in Romania.
“The market will continue to slide in 2010 because there are no investors, no new real estate projects, massive redundancies are announced, with analysts expecting further economic decline. We intend to preserve our sales value in 2010 by gaining market share,” said Christian Morath, general manager of Lasselsberger Romania.
Ceramic tiles consumption will be down by over 30% this year, to 25 million square metres, equivalent to around 200 million euros, which compares with a 15-20% decline that Lasselsberber representatives predicted halfway through the year. The market decline deepened in July-September, which was usually the ceramic tiles peak season.
“Statistical data reveal that imports fell strongly in the peak months, signalling that distributors accumulated stocks, and that demand was low. Whilst our half-year sales exceeded those recorded in the similar period of last year, nine months into the year we matched the 2008 level,” says Eduard Macarescu, Lasselsberger’s commercial manager.
Morath and Macarescu took the reins of Lasselsberger Romania at the end of last year, after previously working with German group REWE, owner of Billa supermarkets.
The new management changed the company’s sales strategy and tripled the number of distributors from 25 last year to 83. Additionally, Lasselsberger products are present in all DIY chains on the Romanian market, after zero presence in such stores last year.
“We put the business in order this year, and used the expertise accumulated on the FMCG market, where the market is much more orderly. The construction materials distribution sector is chaotic in Romania compared with the one in Germany, where there are only DIY networks and specialised hypermarkets with integrated services. On the Romanian market, everyone imports the way they wish and when they wish,” Morath says.