The Association of Polish Cement Producers has raised concerns over the 350 per cent surge in cement imports from Ukraine.

"The scale of imports from Ukraine is growing almost every month, reaching nearly 50 per cent of total imports in January 2024. These volumes are deeply concerning," remarked the association's Zbigniew Pilch.

In 2023 Ukraine exported 330,000t of cement to Poland, while domestic production in the latter fell by 11.9 per cent YoY to 16.6Mt.

The association cites issues of unfair competition and environmental standards in the industry and has prompted calls for regulatory intervention. Mr Pilch highlighted that Ukrainian cement producers are not required to comply with the same climate policies as their Polish counterpart. In addition, due to the local nature of the market with producers favouring short distances due to the high cost of long-distance transport, cement producers in the east of the country face increased competition.

The Association of Polish Cement Producers has called for legislative support to incentivise the adoption of more environmentally friendly technologies within the industry, citing it as the only viable solution to safeguard the competitiveness of Polish cement producers, reports bne Intellinews.