Holcim ponders new factory in Romania and ups turnover estimates

“We have a EUR 160 million investment budget for Romania until 2011 and we are not ruling out the possibility of investing in a new factory, if expanding the existing one's production capacity isn't enough,” said Markus Wirth, general manager of Holcim Romania, quoted by Mediafax newswire.
He believes the local cement market will increase by 10 to 15 percent on a yearly basis in the following five years, so Holcim will need to invest in order to keep its position on the market. Although the company was counting on a boom of infrastructure projects to sustain its sales increase, the projects have not been started.
This is why only half of Holcim's nine-month sales went on infrastructure projects, the rest being covered by residential and commercial ones.
The company has upped its estimate of its 2007 turnover increase from 15 to 25 percent, and expects to reach a EUR 275 million turnover at the end of the year.
The investment in a cement production unit with an average yearly production of 1 million tons stands between EUR 200 and EUR 300 million.
The possible location for a new factory depends on the raw material resources and on the infrastructure of the area.
Holcim Romania owns three factories in Romania, two in Alesd and Turda, which can be expanded, and one in Campulung, set to work at full capacity next year after EUR 120 million in total investment.
An increase in Holcim's cement production in Romania would be destined only for sales on the Romanian market.
Holcim's competitors locally are Lafarge and Heidelbergcement, each running three cement production units in the country.

Corina Saceanu