MINSK, 26 November (BelTA) – Belarusian cement exporters will switch from Ukraine to the European Union market, Belarusian Architecture and Construction Minister Dmitry Mikulenok told reporters before the session of the Presidium of the Council of Ministers to discuss the cement and glass industry on 26 November, BelTA has learned.
“We stopped shipping cement to Ukraine in July [because of anti-dumping duties]. We have switched to other markets, mostly the European Union. We will keep working to replace traditional export markets and increase exports to the European Union, not Russia,” Dmitry Mikulenok said.
The minister explained that literally two years ago domestic cement manufacturers relied mostly on the Russian market, however work is underway now to diversify export markets “to make sure we will be able to switch to other markets if needed”. About half of export goes to Russia. At the same time, the European market is more attractive than the Russian one from the point of view of margins, Dmitry Mikulenok noted.
The export of cement via the Belarusian Universal Commodity Exchange (BUCE) has increased significantly this year. “Last year, we did not use the services of the BUCE. This year the supplies increased 80 times. We sold 122,000 tonnes of cement to foreign markets through the exchange. It is a good tool, it shows a real price. So I think we are on the right track," he added.
According to Dmitry Mikulenok, after the head of state took decisions on the cement industry, the industry's capacity utilization came to average 93%. “We can operate steadily. Manufacturers are paying back their investment loans. We believe that the economic situation is stable, at least, we are not afraid of some extraordinary developments,” the minister said.
The cement mills are also working on new types of products and hope to roll them out in the first quarter of 2020.
As for the glass industry, Gomelsteklo needs to map out the right marketing strategy in the face of market oversupply. “Our neighbors in the European Union and Russia have launched several new production lines and the situation with sales has become more difficult. We will focus more on the European Union because sales margins in the Russian market have been falling,” said Dmitry Mikulenok. Earlier, there were plans to build a new glass factory in Grodno. However, the final decision has not been made yet as we are yet to calculate whether sales are sustainable in the medium term, the minister said.
