UrBC, Yekaterinburg, January 25, 2016. Sverdlovsk Region’s building materials manufacturers’ production output decreased by 10% last year, director of Sverdlovsk Building Industry Union Yuri Chumerin told UrBC.

‘Our plants are only working to 60% to 70% of their capacity, almost at the break-even point. The amount of orders to meet declined by around 10%. The thing is, most of these actually only produce things by customers’ orders, and local developers have been putting up less and less lately. Even though new apartment blocks get commissioned as usual, fewer new buildings get planned, so the demand for building materials is on the decrease. Now there are quite a few manufacturing plants in the area, so they are forced to produce less,’ he said.

According to Chumerin, local businesses are also finding it harder to find customers in other part of Russia, since the building market is shrinking in the entire country.

‘So plants, especially those that haven’t been investing in new equipment, are finding it hard to keep afloat: their products’ prime cost remains high, which makes them unprofitable in the competitive market,’ Chumerin said.