Food industry still attractive to investors - February 18th, 2010
The FMCG sector will continue to arouse the investors' interest in 2010 as well, following a year dominated by crisis. Despite this situation, the fast moving consumer goods industry has drawn investments worth at least half a billion euros.
Among the most promising fields for 2010 are the dairy products, with sources on the market pointing to the entrance of other multinationals on the domestic market, the soft drinks and the meat industry. "There are companies interested in investing in this sector in the next period" Raluca Anghel, Romanian Foreign Investment Agency (ARIS) secretary general told the Business Standard daily.
Some of the companies that made significant investments in 2009 are Pepsi Americas, controlling the largest production unit in Romania, located in Dragomiresti commune, which requires total funds worth USD 150 million, due to be completed in 2011. Its direct competitor, Coca-Cola Hellenic Romania invested EUR 45 million in the construction of a co-generation plant and an automated warehouse affiliated to the plant based in Ploiesti.
The mineral water segment has also reported several novelties. Thus, United Romanian Breweries Bereprod (URBB) has completed a Greenfield project worth EUR 10 million, targeting the construction of a mineral water bottling unit in the Bilbor commune, Harghita county. Moreover, Jean Valvis (former owner of Dorna and La Dorna) allocated EUR 12 million for a greenfield investment in a plant located 20 kilometres away from Vatra Dornei, with the Greek investor due to enter both the local and the international market next year with the Aqua Carpatica brand.
Some of the investments made in the dairy products industry are the EUR 2 million Albalact allocated for the modernization of Raraul Campulung, which it bought in 2008. Another player, Unicarm, based in Satu Mare (northern Romania) invested some EUR 30 million in four bread, milk and ice-cream plants in Vetis, Satu Mare County.
According to the data made public by the National Bank of Romania (BNR), foreign direct investments totalled EUR 3.52 billion. January through September 2009 compared to almost 7 billion euros in the same period last year.
T
he statistical research on the foreign direct investments (FDI) conducted by the BNR in cooperation with the National Statistics Institute (INS) showed that on December 31, 2008 the processing industry accounted for 31.3% of the total FDI volume drawn by Romania until the end of 2008, totalling EUR 15.23 billion. Food, beverage and tobacco industry accounted for 4.6% of the FDI accumulated by Romania until the end of 2008, amounting to EUR 2.21 billion, Raluca Anghel said.
Source:Agerpres |
