Introduction to concrete building products
Practical Action
trialled in a number of places and in India the semi-circular ferrocement roofing channels devised
by Development Alternatives have been quite successfully disseminated.
Why Make Concrete Products?
A great attraction of starting a concrete products workshop is that production can be carried out on
almost any scale ranging from a small manual operation run by one or two people to a large highly
mechanised factory. Even in areas where a large producer supplies most of the market the small
producer may be able to find a niche because it is relatively inexpensive to set up to produce
concrete products on a small scale. For the small-scale producer with a suitable plot of land, little
more would be needed than a small builders’ concrete mixer, a number of different moulds, a
vibrating table and a curing tank.
Making concrete products is also an industry which allows considerable scope for expansion,
providing the market develops. So, a producer might start off making just blocks using a set of
inexpensive wooden or steel moulds - locally made, and tamping the concrete in the moulds by
hand. As turnover increases this producer might add to the range by buying moulds for making
floor tiles, paving slabs, ventilation elements and fencing posts. If turnover increases still further
the producer might consider buying an ‘egg-laying’ machine - to increase production and improve
quality of the blocks by vibration, and a larger and more specialised concrete mixer. Alternatively,
if the market for concrete products fails to take off the producer can abandon the enterprise at its
initial stage without too great financial loss.
Understanding the market is the key to determining if a small-scale concrete products enterprise
will succeed or fail. It might be particularly worthwhile to consider setting up a workshop if there
are a lot of small-scale building works taking place in the area. It can be a lot more difficult to
establish a viable enterprise if there is little building activity taking place or there are already a
number of established producers.
In any case, before investing in land or equipment, it would be essential to carry out a feasibility
study to determine if concrete products could be produced profitably. This would involve:
• An assessment of the market to know how many blocks and other products the producer
might be able to sell
• Finding out the prices in the local market of concrete blocks and other products
• An estimate of production costs comprising raw material and labour costs, estimate of
costs of equipment and consumable items (with interest charges factored in if the
equipment needs to be bought with a loan), taxes and rates paid to national and local
governments (if applicable), marketing and advertising costs and other costs associated
with running the business, as well as a contribution to maintaining a working capital or
float fund.
• What profit can be made if selling the products at the local prices as the excess funds
available over the production costs.
It can be assumed that an efficient producer of concrete blocks will be able to make about 150
blocks from one 50kg bag of cement.
If the potential profit is 10 per cent or higher it is highly likely that the business would be
successful. Between 3 and 10 per cent it is quite possible that the business would be successful
but it would be vulnerable to changing external conditions (e.g. fall in the value of the local
currency if the equipment needs to be brought from abroad) and the business operators would
need to be very determined and hard-working to make the business viable. If the study indicates a
profit of only one or two per cent, or a loss, then it would probably not be a good idea to go ahead.
The potential producer also needs to assume, unless assured of substantial pre-orders from users
before production starts, that there would be a start-up period of between a few weeks to up to a
year when full or nearly full production costs would be incurred but there would be little or no
income from sales as orders are built up. How to cover this shortfall of funds during this start-up
period would be another challenge the potential producer would need to address.
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