The management of dimension stones in Poland in the years 2011-2021

This paper presents data on the management of dimension stones in Poland in the period 2011- -2021. The domestic production of rocks suitable for the production of slabs, pitcher and curbs, etc. is estimated and the major varieties of rocks utilized for these purposes are indicated. Data on raw and processed products with regard to imports and exports are presented for crude and roughly worked blocks and slabs, worked dimension stones as well as pitcher, curbs and other road stones. In the first two groups, data is reported separately for: center dot marbles, limestones and other carbonate rocks, center dot granites, center dot sandstones (distinguished as separate category in crude blocks and slabs group), center dot other rocks. Data on the volume of production, imports and exports is utilized for the calculation of the ap-parent consumption of dimension stone in Poland. The conducted analyses revealed that its volume has been ranging from 1.4 to 1.9 million tons/year in 2013-2021 with the exception of the years 2011-2012 when it reached ca. 2.7 million tons/year. The most important group of rocks utilized in Po-land as dimension stones are granites. These originated primarily from domestic deposits but they are also imported from various directions, primarily from the Republic of South Africa and India (crude blocks and slabs), China (worked dimension stones) as well as from Sweden and Norway in 2011-2012 (significant amounts of hydrotechnical stones). Another significant group of rocks utilized in Poland as dimension stones are sandstones (with a share of imports in total domestic consumption not exceed-ing 1%) while marbles, limestones and other carbonate rocks are of marginal importance (primarily imported in the form of worked dimension stones from China, the Czech Republic, Italy and Turkey).