Fereastra - Portal de afaceri - revista de specialitate pentru furnizorii de sisteme si producatorii de tamplarie din PVC, Aluminiu si lemn stratificat cu geam termoizolant. Aici gasiti informatii utile despre: ferestre, usi, pereti cortina, termopane, geam termopan, etc.

 

A manager of a company specialized in window manufacture and acquiring such information has only a few possible options: either applying firm activity improvement measures (by cutting costs, rationalizing consumption, identifying new demand segments, rapidly adapting to consumers’ requests etc.), or deciding for company reorganization or, best case scenario, orienting towards the installation activity. The presented solutions are not comfortable for any decision maker, and particularly for those already familiarized with annual growth levels of over 30%, before the beginning of the economic crisis. An objective market niche analysis reveals that the probability of reaching the same profitability levels is null. The hypothesis is paradoxically beneficial to the sector, if we consider that non-conform product offers might be currently limited, considering that the temptation of obtaining rapid gains is annulled by the prospects of limited growths, forecast on a medium and long term.

There are certain opinions according to which a similar situation might also define the profile system market (whether PVC or aluminium series), in the sense that the promoters of certain mark brands with inadequate performance characteristics will liquidate their business in Romania, considering precisely the uncertainty of their capacity to ensure high profitability rates. Although still manifested at an inadequate level, the final beneficiaries’ information level has started to highly influence the demand structure, many customers having special expectations related to the quality of both finished products, and components. Big European suppliers will obviously continue to deliver on the Romanian market technical solutions somehow inferior to those promoted in West Europe, due to the real purchase power differences, but we expect this situation to become balanced in the next years from this point of view as well. A first step towards increasing performances has already been taken, the line ministry having recently adopted a decision to set a maximum heat transfer coefficient threshold of 1.3 W/mpK, which theoretically brings Romania, even for one year only, at the level of the German market. From the point of view of European companies specialized in profile production/ delivery, this represents a new opportunity to increase market shares, to the detriment of companies which, by means of the current offer, don’t have the possibility to observe the new provision. It may also be that - on a medium term - a new demand levelling trend might prevail, potentially leading to the disappearance of the performance differences between the continent’s Eastern and Western areas. As for composite systems (windows made of aluminium-plated wood profiles), the mentioned trend has already been installed, deluxe category brands being already promoted on the local market, for prices similar to those practiced in Western Europe.

We notice quite clearly that public authorities’ decisions have an increasingly higher impact on the sector activity. This is also a consequence of the investment process limitation, so that the main viable driver in the constructions sector remains the amount of direct government expenditure. A legislative project recently approved by the Ministry of Regional Development and Tourism (MDRT) and endorsed by the Executive power implies the granting of bank credits from specialized institutions, with government guarantee and subsidized interest. Thus, for existing façade rehabilitation works, over 90% of expenses can be sustained by means of this system, and the remaining 10% of costs will be covered by beneficiaries. The respective method could help revive an important segment of the insulating joinery sector, which could represent the necessary stimulus for sector companies to overcome the current crisis. It is still not clear how the mentioned decision will be applied, considering that we expect a Parliament vote in the near future, probably followed by the law promulgation and the drawing of methodological norms for its application. An issue would be that the program excludes multilevel residential buildings, which will continue to be subject to the existing rehabilitation system (which implies a minimization of the role held by beneficiaries in choosing used systems, leading to the application of inadequate technical solutions, upon whose acquisition the price is the decisive criterion). The experience of other countries having applied the subsidized interest crediting system proves that the respective mechanism represents the best solution, as the user - considering its financial involvement - has an interest in the work observing the restrictive durability and heat-insulation requirements. In Germany, for instance, the sector market followed an ascending trend in 2009 and 2010 (when it reached a volume of approximately EUR 8.5 billion) through the application of a similar system, which allowed the granting of annual credits of over EUR 2 billion. The method no longer allows the proliferation of rigged tenders, the lack of obligatory documentation (such as documents attesting the CE marking application) or the use of inadequate materials, as the option exclusively belongs to the beneficiary, who undertakes the credit reimbursement obligation. This it the reason why not stipulating the respective derogations would have been better. It is predictable that the market segmentation might increase in the near future, setting clear differences between companies specialized in rehabilitation works sustained with public funds and those which will contract projects mainly financed by owners.

Another possible support potentially coming from authorities in the near future refers to labour taxation. As in time all local and international specialists have emphasized that imposing an excessive taxation system would not render the expected result of increasing budget revenues, but on the contrary, a reduction thereof, through the application of illegal practices by employers, such as for example, the declaration of minimum legal level salaries for each employee, or, much more serious, the illegal collaboration with most of the personnel. Experts consider that an approximately 45% level of taxes applied both to the employer, and the employee is too excessive and its reduction represents an obligatory measure to be adopted in the near future. It is not clear if the current administration has the capacity to modify taxation rules, considering the characteristics of the commitments undertaken in the partnership relations with international financial bodies, but there are signals that certain corrections can also be applied in the given circumstances.