New production facilities
Hasit, Daw Benta, Saint-Gobain and Rockwool are but some of the companies that inaugurated new mortar, adhesive or polystyrene manufacturing facilities.
Hasit Romania, the local subsidiary of the German construction materials manufacturer Fixit, invested EUR4.5 milion in a plant in Bolintin-Deal near Bucharest, which became operational on May 1.
Daw Benta, held by Remus Aurel Benta, started production in its two new polystyrene and adhesive plants in Mures County on October 31. French-held Saint Gobain invested more than EUR20 milion in the retooling of one of its lines at the glass plant in Calarasi and Danish-held Rockwool started production of mineral wool in the Aricestii Rahtivani plant, near Ploiesti, following a EUR50 million investment.
Taken down by insolvency
The delay in the start of some projects, suppliers enforcing payment, non-payment of services by beneficiaries, the skyrocketing construction material prices and labor costs caused two insolvencies among builders in 2019. Delta ACM and Octagon are the two companies, and they were among to top 20 insolvencies of the first half of 2019.
Delta ACM, with RON137 million revenue in 2018, went insolvent in June 2019, following delay in the start of some contracts and payment enforcement by some suppliers. A few months before, Octagon Contracting & Engineering had experienced the same thing, filling for insolvency due to the rising construction material prices.
First RON1B profit from DIY
Dedeman, the largest Romanian entrepreneurial company, made the first profit of over RON1 billion from the DIY business, as shown by last year’s results. DIY retailer Dedeman, held by brothers Adrian and Dragos Paval, posted RON1.01 billion profit and RON7.22 billion sales with a network of 49 stores.
Somaco leaves Oresa Ventures
Swiss-held Holcim took over the Somaco group from investment firm Oresa Ventures. Somaco has about 900 employees in its six plants in Teius, Timisoara, Targoviste, Buzau, Romania and Adjud. Holcim has about 800 employees in Romania and two cement plants in Campulung and Alesd, among other facilities.
Fewer construction employees
The number of employees in the construction sector continued to decline and reached almost 339,000, according to the latest data from the Trade Register Office. In comparison, almost 560,000 people were working in the construction sector in 2008, which means 221,000 people left the sector in ten years, either to work abroad or because of a career shift.
Leier at second deal in less than one year
Austria’s Leier, which bought brick maker Brikston Iasi in 2018, announced intention to buy Siceram Sighisoara, which operates in the same field. Siceram has a brick plant (with a production capacity of 880 cubic meters per day) and a roof tile plant (4,400 square meters a day), among others. Its production facilities are located in Sighisoara and all will be acquired by Leier, after receiving the green light from Romania’s competition watchdog.
AdePlast goes to a multinational
At the end of the year, an announcement came about AdePlast, the Romanian construction materials manufacturer with 11 plants, which will be acquired by Switzerland’s Sika, after AdePlast SA shareholders decided to sell. The deal is subject to the approval of the competition authorities. Market sources say the deal is worth about EUR100 milion. AdePlast makes mortars, polystyrene and paint in its 11 facilities in Ploiesti, Oradea, Roman and Craiova.
New CEOs
Wienerberger (bricks), Brikston (bricks), Cesarom (ceramic tiles) and Metigla (roofing) are but some of the companies that saw a change of leadership in the past year. Wienerberger – the largest brick manufacturer in Romania, put Iulian Mangalagiu in charge. Brikston replaced Mangalagiu with Adrian Manzat. Cesarom Cluj-Napoca appointed Petrisor Grindeanu, former CEO of Sika Ethiopia, to run its operations in September. Metigla replaced Liviu Mistodinis with Cristian Matasel on November 1.
CRH consolidates position in Romania
Irish cement manufacture CRH bought the concrete division of the Pomponio group in Alba, held by two Italian shareholders. CRH therefore got the Alba Iulia and Sibiu, Deva and Turda assets of Pomponio. The concrete division generated RON40 million revenue in 2018.
Rebranding on the roofing market
Three companies in the roofing manufacturing and distribution business in Romania changed name in the past year. Metigla replaced Coilprofil, Wetterbest replaced Depaco and Novatik Final Distribution. While Wetterbest and Novatik are Romanian brands, Metigla is a Belgian brand. All the companies chose to use as their name one of the best-known brands of their own.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)