On September 11-12, another meeting of the members of the Association of Refractory Materials Producers took place in Ogrodzieniec. The President of the Steel Industry Chamber of Commerce, Mirosław Motyka, participated in the meeting.
The meeting was opened by the President of the Association, Tomasz Biliński, who presented information on the course of the European Congress of Refractory Materials Producers (PRE) in Ljubljana on June 18-20, 2025. He then discussed the status of talks with the European Commission regarding the recently imposed high tariffs on fused alumina (white – WFA and brown – BFA) imported from China, which is one of the key raw materials for the production of high-quality refractory materials. In order to mitigate the negative effects of these tariffs, European refractory materials producers, including SPMO, as well as abrasive materials producers associated in the Federation of European Producers of Abrasives (FEPA), who also use this intermediate product, have taken action against the EC’s decision. Recently, another meeting was held with representatives of the European Commission.
During the later part of the meeting, Jerzy Czechowski presented national and European statistics on the production of refractory materials. In recent years, a decline in production has been observed both in the European Union and in Poland. Data concerning the recipients of refractory materials show a very strong dependence of domestic producers on the steel industry; in terms of quantity, 64%, and in terms of value, 66% of the total consumption of refractory materials produced in Poland in 2024 was accounted for by the steel industry.
In the next presentation, Mirosław Motyka, President of the Steel Industry and Trade Chamber, gave a presentation on the situation of the steel industry in the country and worldwide. The main problem is the significant steel import, which affects domestic production. Some prospects for improving the situation are created by the planned government investments. Marek Cyganik presented the current situation in the energy market and in national and European legislation, which may impact the refractory materials industry. On February 26, 2025, the European Commission presented the first package of simplifications in the area of sustainable development, known as Omnibus I. Its purpose is to reduce administrative burdens for businesses in the European Union. The package includes draft legislation for two directives: 1. the so-called “stop-the-clock,” which postpones deadlines, and 2. simplifying requirements for businesses.
The stop-the-clock has been adopted and published as Directive (EU) 2025/794 of the European Parliament and of the Council, and on July 28, 2025, the law implementing this directive was published in the Journal of Laws in Poland.
During the meeting, J. Czechowski discussed the status of matters related to the ViscoTherm project titled: “Improving the resistance of refractory materials to thermal shock through controlled liquid phase formation,” for the implementation of which the Association received funding from NCBiR together with partners from Germany (FGF and Hochschule Koblenz) under the CORNET initiative. A consortium agreement was concluded with the German partners and with the Łukasiewicz Research Network – Institute of Ceramics and Building Materials, and the agreement with NCBiR is being finalized. The project implementation began on September 1, and the kick-off meeting will take place in Aachen on September 15.
The meeting concluded with a discussion on the current situation in our industry and the outlook for the coming years.