Cement consumption in Poland is seen at 11.3Mt for 2004, almost unchanged from 2003, the chairman of the country’s association of cement and lime producers SPCiW, Andrzej Tekiel, said on October 11, 2004. Cement consumption dropped by 1.5 per cent year-on-year in 2003. In May 2004, SPCiW forecast a 5.0 pct year-on-year increase in cement consumption for 2004 after cement sales grew 40 pct year-on-year to 1.46Mt for the first quarter of 2004. However, the next months were disappointing for the domestic market, Tekiel added. Sales totalled 9.27Mt, including 450,000 tonnes from imports, from January to September 2004, a 7.0 per cent year-on-year increase.
SPCiW expects that the cement consumption in Poland would rise by 5.0 pct or 6.0 pct year-on-year in 2005 as the country has to invest in large road infrastructure projects and the housing sector is expected grow slightly. Currently the road construction and housing sectors are the largest cement consumers and each of them utilises 20 pct of the cement sold in the country.
