This will be in line with the general drop of the cement market which Daniel Bach, CEO Holcim Romania, estimates at between 3 and 5 percent this year following lower demand coming from both the residential and non-residential sectors.

The company has increased prices this year (2-3 percent) but this will most likely not offset the drop in volumes, he explained. On the other hand, Holcim says it returns to profit at the level similar to the one reported in 2011. Last year Holcim Romania reported a EUR 8.5 million loss and a EUR 213 turnover. This was considerably below the EUR 372 million record level reported in 2008.

The manufacturer opened this week a EUR 15 million waste heat recovery installation at its factory in Alesd, in north-west Romania. The investment should be recovered in 10 years time.The installation produces electricity using the gases resulted from the cement production process and will generate about 15 percent of the electricity the factory uses. It is the first of this kind in Eastern Europe, said Bach.

Alongside Carpatcement Holding and Lafarge Romania, Holcim is one of the main players on the Romanian cement market.

Holcim Romania owns two cement plants in Campulung and Alesd, a grinding station and a cement terminal in Turda, 16 ecological ready-mix plants, 5 aggregates plants, two special binders plants and a cement terminal in Bucharest. The company employs around 1,000 people.

The factory in Alesd was built in 1969 and was bought by Swiss Holcim in 2000. Some EUR 178 million have been invested since in upgrading the factory. The company’s total investments in Romania amount to approximately EUR 700 million, making it the largest Swiss investor in the country. (source: business-review.eu)