Lafarge to close cement production at Wierzbica plant

Lafarge Cement Polska, a subsidiary of Lafarge of France is to close down its cement factory in Wierzbica near Radom after four years of operations. The closure is attributed to the ever increasing presence of smuggled cement from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) coupled with high energy costs in Poland. The company also says demand for cement in Poland is lean. Company president Andrzej Tekiel says Lafarge will not abandon the plant but will continue the production of building materials using gravel and the exploration of the surrounding limestone ores. The Wierzbica plant is the oldest and least capitalized among the three cement factories owned by Lafarge in Poland making the costs of production higher by 30-40% than in the other plants. Lafarge has 22% of the domestic cement market. Last year its plants jointly recorded zl. 619.4 million in revenues and zl. 92.3 million in net profits. (Rzeczpospolita, page B3) S.M.