20:41 7 May 2026
Polish construction industry reeling from costs
Rising construction material prices are putting growing pressure on the profitability of Polish construction companies, whose margins already fell sharply in 2025 compared with 2024. Higher oil prices linked to tensions in the Middle East have pushed up the costs of asphalt, steel, aggregates, insulation materials, and fuel, worsening conditions in an industry already weakened by intense price competition.
According to Artur Popko, many companies are bidding aggressively for contracts, sometimes accepting projects with near-zero margins just to maintain liquidity and cover salaries, leases, and debt payments. Budimex warned that some competitors may be relying too heavily on contract indexation mechanisms to offset rising costs, but those mechanisms have limits and typically split inflation risk equally between contractor and client.
Budimex says it protects itself by factoring future price increases into bids and hedging key material costs such as asphalt. The company expects margin pressure across the construction sector to remain strong through 2026 and beyond.
(wnp.pl)
