ANALYSIS: Better prospects for the masonry materials market

The sales on the domestic brickwork and concrete masonry market, reached last year a value of about 140 million EUR, according to the data available in the field, though the evolution of the two segments was slightly different in 2013. Thus, if most concrete blocks manufacturers reported increases between 3% and 5% for the deliveries made last year, the brick manufacturers have announced, at best, the stagnation on the market in which they operate. For 2014, most operators within both sectors indicate some possible slight increases maximum 5%. In quantitative terms, the data from companies in the industry indicate a level of about 3.8 million cubic meters per year, out of which the concrete blocks sector has 1.87 million cubic meters, and the brick segment around 1.9 million cubic meters. Currently, in Romania there exists a production capacity of masonry of around 8.5 million cubic meters / year, far exceeding the current consumption, while the real potential market stands over 9 million cubic meters / year. About 22 major manufacturers operate on the brick and concrete blocks market. The problems faced by the brick and concrete blocks manufacturers are generally the same, connected with the large number of insolvency cases reported to the number of companies active, the fuel price increases, the difficulty of making payments / the liquidity shortage in the construction industry, the excessive taxing and, not least, the labor overcharge. Niculae Dusu, the chairman of the Association of BCA Producers (Pro BCA) and the CEO of Celco - Constanta, indicates that the large number of cases of insolvency, in rapport with the number of all companies in the sector remains one of the greatest challenges. Also, other problems faced by the masonry materials manufacturers are represented by the construction market contraction, resulting from the less-motivating strategies adopted by the government towards the private sector. Finally, given the decrease of the purchasing power of the population, the Romanian producers of masonry materials were forced to gradually reduce the selling prices of products, significantly reducing their profit margins.