Press breakfast of the Polish Cement Association
Krzysztof Kieres, Member of the Management Board and the General Director of Dyckerhoff Polska Sp. z o.o. participated in a breakfast meeting of the Polish Cement Association on “Cement and concrete as low-emission building materials” that was held on 16 April in Warsaw. Representatives of the companies associated in the organisation discussed the standing of the Polish cement industry in the context of its development, environmental impact, and market conditions.
Increased demand for cement related to the intensive development of the construction and building of national roads and motorways under the second EU perspective, marks an importance challenge for the cement industry in Poland. It is a challenge that the industry is capable of facing. Cement is a quality stable product that is produced using only domestic raw materials and which allows the implementation of the boldest visions of designers and architects – was said during the press breakfast of the Polish Cement Association. According to projections by research institutes analysing the construction situation it may be expected that cement sales in 2018 will be close to 18m tons, which marks an increase of approx. 6-7% in comparison to the result in 2017.
Concrete is the most important product made out of cement. Chairman Krzysztof Kieres talked about its application in housing construction. According to the data from Statistics Poland (GUS), 178,000 residential units were completed in 2017, or close to 10% more than in 2016. - Both ready-mixed and prefabricated concrete may be used in housing construction. Structural elements, such as foundations, basements, beams, slabs, ceilings, walls, and floors may be made from concrete. There may be concrete roof tiles, too – said Krzysztof Kieres and answered why we should used concrete for construction purposes.
- Concrete is characterised by durability of at least several dozen years. Its elements are easy to shape, assemble, and disassemble. Concrete is resistant to environmental conditions, has low permeability and significant waterproof features. It is corrosion and fire resistant – enumerated Krzysztof Kieres. In addition, owing to its high thermal mass, concrete functions as a buffer, absorbing heat, storing and releasing it at an appropriate speed.