Players in the field hope they will witness a rebound this year, even though a shy one, as they expect the plus the housing market registered last year to maintain and infrastructure works to gain momentum after going down last year.
“In the realistic case, there will be a 3-4% increase of the building materials market, under accurate budget conditions (the 2015 state budget retains the values announced at the moment it was approved i.e.),” says Claudiu Georgescu, president of the Association of Construction Material Producers in Romania (APMCR).
The building materials field, employing around 33,500 people, accounts for over one third of the total construction market, which last year amounted to some EUR8.2-8.6 billion, according to data provided by the Romanian Association of Construction Companies (ARACO).
Liviu Stoleru, general manager of brick producer Cemacon, says that despite certain turmoil on the market related to presidential elections, 2014 was a year of growth owing to the favorable weather conditions and to Romanians’ having started to make “timid” investments in the area of small housing projects.
Stoleru expects growth in the housing area to maintain in 2015.
Cemacon posted a two-digit revenue increase in 2014 against 2013 when it posted revenue of RON48 million (EUR11 million). For 2015, Cemacon has budgeted an increase of at least 20% as it will reopen the plant it owns in Zalau.
On the other hand, Petre Marian Milut, president of building materials producer Prefab, with revenue of RON68.4 million (EUR15.5 million) in 2013, says that after 2014, a year he views as “the worst of the past 16 years”, 2015 is due to be a year with potential growth.
“I see better prospects for 2015. The government handles EU fund management and it is the one that gives the signal for investments,” believes Mihut.
Alexandru Stanean, general manager of Teraplast, a PVC processor, also speaks about the impact of EU funds in the economy as a whole and the construction industry. “We are upbeat about the trend of the market in 2015. Romania must not have another failed year in constructions, the more so as it is the last year when we can draw the money allotted to Romania in EU’s previous budget,” says Stanean.
Teraplast posted revenue worth almost RON227 million (EUR52 million) in 2013.
“We are confident that an increase in investments operated by the state will drive private investments up, implicitly dragging the construction market from the decline area,” states Stanean.
(English version by Catalina Apostoiu)