Foreign giants boost "occupying" the market of building materials

In the second half of 2016, many major construction materials companies started to announce their business as well as new project in Vietnam. SCG, a leading multinational conglomerate in Thailand, has a strong market share in building materials, its sales in Vietnam are not much higher than in the same period of last year but overall very positive. Specifically, sales in Vietnam in the first three quarters reached nearly $ 500 million. Along with that, the group's assets in Vietnam increased 5% to $ 902 million.

Not to mention the building materials, with the main products such as concrete tile, fiber cement sheet, white cement, ceramic tiles, bathroom accessories ..., this group is encroaching on array Thanks to stable position in construction materials. In mid-November, Kraft Vina, a subsidiary of SCG, has operated a second paper production line with capacity of 243,500 tons per year in Binh Duong province.

No share of revenue figures, but Saint-Gobain Group (France) also said that Vietnam is the bright spot in total revenue of $ 3 billion in Asia last year. Just in early November, the group has operated a new factory to produce tile adhesive, tile grout and waterproofing products with a capacity of 100,000 tons of products per year in Nha Be District, Ho Chi Minh City.

"The construction of this plant shows that we fully believe in the potential for the development of Vietnam's building materials market and the adhesives in particular," said Javier Gimeno, Asia-Pacific and General Manager of Building Materials, Asia-Pacific region of Saint-Gobain.

Another name is Sherwin-Williams (USA) paint. At present, the company's products are traded in Vietnam through distributor TDD Vietnam. However, a source said that Sherwin-Williams also plans to operate a new plant to produce directly in Vietnam in the near future. Many predict that the group will launch strong media campaigns next year to expand its market share.

To step into the "sweet picking" phase and increase investment in new products to maximize the efficiency of the building materials market is recovering thanks to the sublimation of real estate, series of acquisitions to prepare market share and production capacity for themselves. As of 2011, SCG spent $ 5.5 million to buy a 99% stake and upgrade the Buu Long Cement Plant (Dong Nai). Later, the group also acquired 85% of the Prime Group, a Vietnamese brand of flooring tiles with a 20% market share. At the same time, Semen Gresik Group (Indonesia) acquired 70% stake in Thang Long Cement from Geleximco, a joint stock company of Hanoi, worth US $ 230 million. By 2015, Saint Gobain (France) will take full control of Vinh Tuong Gypsum by officially increasing its ownership from 14.8% to 57%.

"First, Vietnam's economy is growing healthy. Secondly, the process of urbanization in Vietnam is taking place very strongly, many people from rural areas moving to urban areas, new urban growth creates a great demand for housing, schools and hospitals. Thirdly, the number of Vietnamese entering the middle class is growing rapidly, and they have higher housing needs, based on criteria such as comfort, quality of life and environmental protection. Saint-Gobain wants to take advantage of that, and we want to be a leader in this market, "Javier Gimeno said.

Roongrote Rangsiyopash, President and CEO of SCG, predicts that the demand for building materials in ASEAN is still stable, especially in terms of cement. "The demand for cement in the ASEAN region continues to increase, due to the expansion and growth of the construction industry. Currently, SCG's overseas investment plans are in place, "he said at the start of last October.