Romania's cement production will drop this year by 10% y/y, estimates employers' union

Romania's cement production will lose this year about 10 percent versus 2008, when it stood at 10.7 million tons, mainly due to the massive decline in the real estate field, declared for NewsIn Mihai Rohan, president of the cement employers' union CIROM.

The cement price could, nonetheless, grow this year by about 1-2 percent, thanks to the rise of royalties in the industry, which led to a rise in raw materials, power, fuel and transportation prices. Rohan mentioned that prices will also be influenced by the demand and the exchange rate, as many acquisitions contracts are negotiated in euros.

The CIROM president also declared that the market is waiting for the new real estate projects announced for the second half of the year. He warned that the government could worsen the situation by failing to pay its debts to some contractors, which date from September 2008.

The Romanian cement market is, according to Rohan, very close to maturity, having advanced greatly during the last four years. Last year the total cement production increased by 6.4 percent versus 2007. Internal deliveries amounted to 10.5 million tons, 8.6 percent up from 2007. The cement consumption per capita was of 292 kilos in 2005, of 362 kilos in 2006 , 461 kilos in 2007 and 516 kilos in 2008.

The local cement market is currently dominated by the French Lafarge, the German HeidelbergCement and the Swiss Holcim.

NewsIn