The Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR) in Hanover cites resistance to the maintenance or expansion of local extraction sites, too long planning processes and the increased energy costs for mining and processing.
There are now “significant problems” in the extraction of gravel and sand, it said on Thursday at the presentation of a new study by the specialized authority, which analyzes the raw materials situation on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs.
Gravel is mainly used in the production of concrete for construction, civil engineering and road construction. Fine-grained sand is also an important resource there. Many building materials had already become more expensive in the past two years. The often inadequate supply – along with a lack of skilled workers and torn supply chains – affected both private homebuilders and the construction industry as a whole.
An evaluation by the BGR scientist Harald Elsner on the situation of about 270 of Germany’s more than 2,600 sand and gravel extraction sites has now revealed: “Competing functions through water, nature and landscape protection areas, infrastructure such as roads and railways, residential buildings and commercial areas” can exacerbate the existing bottlenecks in both building materials. “In addition, private property interests often get in the way of mining.”
In some cases, 50 to 70 percent of the deposits could no longer be mined. “In some regions of Germany, especially in Bavaria and Schleswig-Holstein, gravel companies can no longer buy local mining land at all.” In the metropolitan areas of Berlin, Cologne and Dresden, supplies will become difficult in the medium term.
The shortage of supply drives up the purchasing costs of concrete gravel and concrete sand. The BGR estimates that already increased prices are “expected to continue to rise at a rate of 10 to 15 percent per year.” As a result, more had to be imported and the necessary extra transport burdened the environment. (SDA)