PRODUCERS: Important development on the building materials sector

Production of construction materials in Romania grew by 9.3% in the first six months of this year compared to the same period in 2013, according to the National Statistics Institute (INS). The increase was confirmed by the data available for June 2014, when the production index for construction materials increased by 22.3% compared to June 2013, and with 9.6% compared to May 2014. The evolution reported for the first semester, performed due to the decrease of 9.4% of the construction sector in Romania, confirms once again the strong performance of the exports, while the domestic market is no longer attractive to suppliers. The local construction products industry has an annual value of 3.3 billion euro and the forecasts for 2014 have improved significantly, an average increase of 7%-8% possible for the the year resulting in a market value of over 3.5 billion euro. However, according to INS, the turnover of construction materials producers, importers and distributors increased in the first half year by 10.1% compared to the same period in 2013, while labor productivity grew, according to the same source, by 9.3% in the same period. The production prices stayed the same in the last year, with small fluctuations (up to ± 2%) recorded in June 2014, but there were some materials whose prices production declined significantly during the period, such as cement (-5.62%), lime and plaster (-3.61%), mortar (-5.37%) and non-metallic mineral products (-4.09%).