BUILDING MATERIALS INDUSTRY: PROBLEMS AND DEVELOPMENT TRENDS

The article summarises the main challenges faced by the construction materials industry during the COVID-19 pandemic and the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion against Ukraine. The paper outlines the main trends in the development of the construction materials industry in the global and national contexts. In particular, the global trends in the production of construction materials are as follows: growing demand for construction materials for residential construction due to the intensification of the urbanisation process; use of AI and IoT technologies; production of environmentally friendly and energy efficient materials; sale of construction materials on online markets, etc. The main trends in the development of the domestic building materials industry are the following: focusing of building materials producers on the domestic market; stimulation of demand by the State, expansion of State programmes; production of reliable building structures; production of energy-efficient building materials; use of alternative energy sources. It is concluded that in order to solve the problems, it is necessary to provide systematic support to the construction materials industry from the State to stimulate demand, and to increase production capacity by enterprises in view of the needs of reconstruction and restoration and taking into account existing trends. The construction materials industry systematically develops new and improves existing building materials and applies the latest production technologies. The main trends in the production of construction materials relate to the use of environmentally friendly materials, which has a number of advantages: the use of environmentally friendly materials has a positive impact on both the environment and human health; the use of local raw materials in the production of construction materials helps to reduce operating costs and, consequently, the cost of a construction project; the use of local raw materials in the production of construction materials creates additional workplaces in related areas. Given the new macroeconomic trends in the construction sector, the opportunity for further transformation of the construction materials industry is high.