Building blocks

Solbet, a leading Polish cellular concrete manufacturer, has announced it is developing production for foreign markets.

The company, which produced 27.94 percent of Poland's concrete blocks last year, has been looking at business opportunities in the Scandinavian, German, Czech and Slovak markets. It plans to pump 50,000 cubic meters into the Czech and Slovak markets and 26,000 cubic meters into the German market in 2006.

The firm plans to increase its sales on the German market to more than 45,000 cubic meters in 2007 and, due to its export strategy, Solbet will open up new production lines. These will cater to its German and Scandinavian operations, as some different norms in regards to the concrete blocks' sizes are required.

"Increasing demand for our products pushed us to invest in new production options, as we perceive significant export prospects," said Łukasz Małecki, deputy director-general of Solbet. "This production line will be open in spring of 2007."

In addition, the company announced that within the first seven months of 2006, the consolidated sales of Solbet reached zł.106 million.

In 2001, Solbet was awarded the Teraz Polska (Poland Now) emblem, which is given to companies using the highest production standards.