Russia Business Directory
Russian construction industry consists of about 120 000 enterprises, organizations and construction bureaus employing about 4 mln people. The industry is formally under the responsibility of the Federal Agency on Construction, Building Activities and Amenities, called ROSSTROY.
Many national producers of construction materials can no longer compete with foreign producers due to obsolete equipment and design. More than 60% of construction materials in Russia are imported. In the paints sector, imported products reach 25%.
Cement industry
A comparison of the regime of maintenance of the current capacity level with the regime of required increase in the output (while building new plants) indicates that the volume of investment per one tonne of cement will increase from $5-$6 per tonne of capacity, annually, to $250-$300 tonnes.
The degree of wear to the technological equipment in the cement industry stands at 70%. As a result, the capacity of 45 operating plants is officially estimated at 71.2 million tonnes a year. But in fact, the plants, I their current state, cannot produce more than 65 million tonnes per year.
In order to provide the construction complex with cement, sufficient to commission 80 million square meters of housing by 2010, the industry must attain a production level of 90 million tonnes, annually. This will require the commissioning of new production capacities. The aggregate capital investment for the branch is estimated at $5 billion - $6 billion.
If the current situation persists in the cement industry, a stable shortage of cement will be felt on the market as early as in 2007, especially cement of higher grades. If the state does not intervene and fails to launch massive construction of cement capacities, the shortage will persist until 2015.
Moreover, the cement industry is one of the most fuel and energy intensive industrial branches, in which the share of fuel and energy in the structure of spending reaches 40%. The so-called “wet” method of manufacturing cement, which consumes most energy, prevails in Russia today. Its share in the production of cement clinker stands at around 87% and in cement production at 85%.
Production of heat-insulating materials
Russia currently manufactures about 9 million cubic meters of various kinds of heat-insulating materials, mostly mineral-wool items, whose share in overall production is 65%. Glass wool materials make up 8%, foam plastic 20% and cellular concrete 3%.
Demand for heat-insulating materials increased sharply after new requirements were introduced for heat losses of buildings. The overall demand for heat insulators for all of Russia’s industrial branches is expected to increase to 50 million – 55 million cubic meters, including 18 million – 20 million cubic meters for the housing construction sector. A switch from slag to mineral raw materials is seen as a way of bringing the production of fiber heat insulators for all of the industrial capacities to a qualitatively new level.
Roofing, hydraulic insulating materials
The national market of rolled roofing and hydraulic insulating materials is estimated at 450 million – 460 million square meters, and soft roofing tile at 3 million – 3.5 million square meters. The Rosstat state statistics agency reported that the production of soft roofing and hydraulic insulators amounted to 477 million square meters – 104% from the 2004 figure.
Work to perfect the choice of products is a priority for the roofing and insulating materials industry, which requires restructuring and an increase in the share of modern and highly effective materials guaranteeing reliability and a long service life.
Sheet glass
The volume of sheet glass production currently is 120 million square meters, of which 74% is made based on the latest flop technology. The shortage of quality sheet glass is currently estimated at about 35 million square meters. Among the main tasks of the sub-industry’s development is that of launching large-scale production of modern energy-saving glass with hard and soft coating.
Wall materials
The volume of wall materials production in 2005 was brought to 15 billion conditional bricks. The Russian construction agency Rosstroi reported that demand for wall materials in 2006 is expected to grow to 16 billion – 17 billion bricks and by 2010 is to reach 27 billion – 28 billion conditional bricks. Priority must be given to the construction of production lines manufacturing cellular concrete at currently operating capacities making lime and sand brick, and to the construction of lines manufacturing foam concrete at operating enterprises producing iron and concrete items.
In addition, it would be expedient to create mobile facilities making foam polystyrene concrete with a density of 300-350 kilograms per 1 cubic meter for building monolith self-carrying walls of frame-monolith buildings, and making three-layered wall panels for prefabricated slab construction.
Ceramic tiles
Overall production of ceramic tiles as of January 1 2006 was 8.7 million square meters with 90% of production capacities used. The technical standards of most of Russian companies, manufacturing tiles for construction, lag behind that of most of foreign firms, given the obsolete equipment. The degree of wear to the equipment sometimes exceeds 60%.
Technical retooling is the main task facing the ceramic industry. Advanced foreign-made equipment is to be installed.
In industrialized states, about 1 cubic meters of concrete is produced per one person. In Russia, the figure is 30% lower. Following several periods of decline, the use of iron and iron-and-concrete began to grow from 1999 at a pace exceeding that of construction. In 2005 the output of iron-and-concrete structures and items reached 23.5 cubic meters, 104% against 2004.
Construction machines, equipment
In the sector of machines and equipment, the main emphasis has been laid on the work to develop competitive equipment to be used in the industrial production of composite iron-and concrete structures, to widen the choice of module formwork, to create automated equipment to make concrete and dry mixtures.
The restructuring of the housing construction industry and a growing share of individual housing, as well as the introduction of tighter heat-insulating standards, led to a sharp decrease in the use of industrial housing construction capacities in the late 1990s.
Production of non-mineral building materials
The volume of mining mineral raw materials for the building materials industry has shrunk significantly over the past ten years. As a result, the production of non-mineral building materials, used in capital housing and road construction, in 2005 amounted to about 257 million cubic meters, down 0.7% from 2004.
The technical standards of the branch lag behind the world standards, and automation is low. The branch is experiencing a shortage of equipment in the absence of an industry manufacturing advanced equipment in this country. Concurrently, labor productivity has dropped and energy consumption and financial spending has increased.
Territorially, production capacities are unevenly scattered. Over 60% of them are in Russia’s European part, which makes products more expensive due to the transport component. The use of obsolete equipment and technologies results in excessive energy consumption.
Source: RealEstate.ru
Governmental bodies and state-owned enterprises
World of Construction - website of the Associate Board of Architecture, Construction, Development and Reconstruction of Moscow. Latest news from the region, projects, investment opportunities (eng)
Exhibitions and Fairs
International Buidling Salone - a Moscow exhibition which is a part of the program for implementation of the National Presidential Projects, may be of interest for architectures, designers, planners, design engineers, representatives of the house building industrial complexes, construction and mounting administration, housing and communal services, investment and developer companies, as well as trading companies. In 2007 to be held on October 10-13, arranged by the International Fair Agency.
Construction companies
Association of Russian Builders - association of design and construction companies (rus)
FinStroyLeasing - NRCC Member Company, offering financial solutions for construction industry, projects (eng)
Creacon - NRCC Member Company, located in St.Petersburg, design and construction of houses, interior design, design and construction of high class houses (rus)
Jotun Russia - NRCC Member Company with several offices throughout Russia, dealing in production and sales of paints
Wooden houses: manufacturing and export
Blockhaus Ltd, Petrozavodsk, Karelia - manufacturer and exporter of wooden houses from the Karelian (Polar) pine. Offers log and residential houses, cottages, log cabins, saunas, pavilions etc (eng)
Log Home Village, St.Petersburg - manufacturer of log houses, including design, production and transportation, with extensive export deliveries to Europe and Norway (eng)
Okimo Russia, Kirov, Russia – produces ecologically clean wooden houses, cabins, cottages, saunas and other constructions of round pine (northern variety) (eng)
Ra Service, Petrozavodsk, Karelia - manufacturing and realization of wooden production from the Karelia: log homes, bathhouses, saunas, cabins, garden-furniture and saw-timber: plinths, jambs and lintels, corners for the finishing-works (eng)