Swiss Holderbank completes privatization of Poland's cement sector

The last state-owned cement plant has been sold to Swiss cement giant Holderbank, making the sector one of the first to be fully privatized. Holderbank beat out Aalborg of Denmark and reached an agreement with the Pomorskie voivodship, with the Treasury Ministry's approval, to take over Cementownia Wejherowo. At the end of last year Holderbank acquired Cementownia Wysoka. The two plants give the Swiss firm a 2% share in the Polish market, led by Heildelberger/CBR, Lafarge and CRH, with 23%, 22% and 19%, respectively. Holderbank, the no. 2 cement player in the world after Lafarge, says it will likely look to increase its market share in Poland. (Prawo i Gospodarka, p.1) T.J