KAI owns two plants in its home country, Bulgaria, with a total production capacity of more than 20 million square meters a year. The plants are 140 kilometers away from Bucharest.
“Since entering the local market (in 2009), KAI has seen constant sales growth of more than 20% in Romania. An important factor was the constant investment in production, as well as the small distance from the plants to the main cities in southern Romania,” says Catalin Rotaru, country manager for KAI Ceramics, the local division of the Bulgarian group.
The ceramic (wall and floor) tile market dropped by about 5% to 10% in both volume and value in the first half, according to the National Statistics Institute data, cited by the KAI official.
“Chances are the market decline was even greater in value, as a result of the heavy pressure and great demand of consumers for cheaper products,” Rotaru says.
KAI Ceramics sees the real consumption of ceramic tiles flat on the year at about 25 million square meters in 2012, or EUR130 million to EUR150 million.
Traditionally, the highest sales are made in the second half of the year.
Consumption of ceramic tiles in Romania, about 1.3 square meters per capita is still far behind the European average of some 1.8 square meters, therefore KAI believes there is room for growth in the coming years.
KAI’s Romanian subsidiary posted about 42 million lei (almost EUR10 million) in revenue last year, according to the Finance Ministry data. The company also makes direct sales to Romania from Bulgaria, but its official would not reveal the amount of such sales in 2011.
KAI expects revenue to go up by more than 20% this year as a result of production portfolio diversification and consolidation of partnership with clients.
Its competitors include Lasselsberger, the only tile maker on the local market, and the importers of wall and floor tiling from Spain, Italy and China.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)