BUILDING MATERIALS: The exports support the local production

Maintenance works, infrastructure projects and exports continue to support the local building materials market in the second half of the year as well. The manufacturers and suppliers of construction materials continue to invest in expanding despite the almost constant decrease of the domestic consumption. The local production of construction materials increased by 10.6% in the first four months of this year compared to the same period in 2012, according to the National Institute of Statistics (INS). For the second consecutive month the growth of the specific domain can be noted, even though the volume of the construction works decreased by over 10% between January and April 2013, which confirms the strong performance of exports given that the domestic market is no longer attractive to suppliers. Thus, in April 2013, the production of materials increased by 14.6% in comparison with the same period in 2012 and by 18.1% compared to March 2013. The local market of construction materials has an annual value of 3.3 billion EUR. The production prices remained at the level recorded in the past year, with small fluctuations (maximum ± 2%) recorded in April. However, there were types of materials, especially from the coarse category, whose production prices increased significantly during this period, such as abrasive products (+13.7%), mortar (5.84%), lime and plaster (5.03%). At the end of April 2013, the construction industry employed 350,000 people out of which over 35,700 were active in the production of materials. The businesses of local construction machinery suppliers recorded a contraction of over 20% in the first six months of this year compared to the first half of 2012, whilst the outlook for the full year remains negative given that significant changes related to new major projects on the construction segment are unlikely to happen. The most important reductions were observed in the segment of high capacity equipment, while the sector of small equipments recorded slight increases.