Market Outlook
Poland is a country rich in mineral resources necessary for the development of the non-metallic sector. There are deposits of glass sand, kaolin, sand, sandstone, clay, limestone, marlstone and gypsum.
The limestone deposits of the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship are of particular importance. They are used mainly in lime and cement industry. The region has lime mines with the largest output in the country: Ostrówka (4.1 million tonnes) and Trzuskawica (3.4 million tonnes). The mine in Bukowa comes fourth with an output of 1.6 million tonnes.
The second place in the country in the extraction of lime belongs to the mine in Gliniany-Duranów(4.1 million tons), which supplies this mineral to the cement plant in Ożarów.
The Podkarpackie Voivodeship is very rich in mineral resources. In the southern mountainous part of the voivodeship the following raw materials are extracted: sandstone, limestone, gypsum (including alabaster gypsum), ceramic clay, sand (including glass sands), and gravel. Currently, of the greatest economic significance are the deposits of fossil fuels (natural gas and crude oil) and rock material (natural aggregate, construction ceramics clays and sandstones).
Lime industry, is concentrated mainly in the south of the country, where limestone and marlstone deposits are quite common. Unlike cement industry, however, lime industry is represented by a large number of small businesses. Lime industry is most developed in the Opolskie Voivodeship as well as in the Malopolskie, Śląskie and Lubuskie Voivodeships.
According to CSO data, total sold production of manufacture of non-metallic products in the period of January-November 2012 amounted to PLN 40 778.9 milion. In this period enterprises operating in this sector employed an average of 112 thousand people, and the average wages were PLN 3 677.41.
SOIL ACIDITY STATUS IN POLAND
Oxidation of soils in Poland, affected by natural conditions and activities person. The main factors include climate and type of rock stem. More than 90% of soils in Poland produced on acid rocks deposited through the glaciers. For them, there is intense leaching of components alkaline, especially in areas with greater annual rainfall. Therefore, most acidited soils are in mountain and coastal.
Resulting from the respiration of soil organisms CO2 at low temperatures concentrated in the soil and affects the increase of acidity. Contribute to some of the natural processes of transformation of organic compounds, and nitrogen compounds. Also, man contributes to the removal of alkaline components together with plant yield. Another cause oxidation of soils is the application of nitrogen fertilizers.
Success story
Lhoist Group, Belgium
Formally, the group began its activity in Poland in 1996 when it established Lhoist Poland Sp. z o. o. company based in Krakow and formed a joint venture with the State Treasury based in Bukowa. From that moment the Group started production in Poland. Under the agreement with the State Treasury, the Group undertook to invest PLN 66.5 million in Bukowa. Not only did Lhoist fulfil this obligation, but it invested a much higher amount. At that time the company built a Pfeiffer roller mill, an automatic palletizing line, and a lump lime crushing, sorting and storage system. It also built and modernized silos, a shaft furnace
dedusting system, and a goods dispatch system.
Thanks to the high quality of lime deposits and stateof-the-art technology, the plant produces lime of supreme quality, which is sold both in Poland and abroad.
The Lhoist plant in Bukowa produces the following range of products: quicklime in pieces, powdered quicklime, hydrated lime, limestone dust, sorbents, agricultural lime, limestone and limestone aggregate.
