The decline in exports and implicitly in transportation expenses has resulted in an approximately 30% increase in the gross profit derived last year by Lafarge Ciment, the local branch of the French group Lafarge. "Last year, we managed to reach a gross margin of around 30% (equivalent to around 70 million euros), due to a rise in sales and a decline in exports of around 10%. Cement is exported to countries such as Spain and as faraway as Morocco and The Ivory Coast. This entails high transportation expenses, which we reduced in 2006," stated Phillippe Questiaux, president and general manager of Lafarge Ciment. The company currently exports around 20% of the cement produced in Romania and intends to reduce the share of exports to a level of 15% in the future. "We will not completely give up exporting cement, because they remain an important part of the strategy of the Lafarge group, but over the next few years, we will reduce them to around 10-15%," said Questiaux. According to preliminary results, Lafarge Ciment posted approximately 230 million-euro turnover last year, up 34% against 2005. "For this year, we are estimating an approximately 20% increase in cement sales, which will be prompted by the increase in construction works and by the favourable weather conditions witnessed at the start of the year," specified Questiaux. This year the French will invest around 30-40 million euros in increasing production capacities, as well as 7-8 million euros in environmental protection, in order to meet environmental standards imposed under European Union law.
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