Swiss cement sector requires quarry expansions to sustain production beyond 2024

Without the expansion of quarries, Swiss cement production could fall as early as 2024, according to the National Geological Survey Swisstopo, Switzerland’s federal office of topography.

 To carry out the implementation and maintenance of construction and infrastructure projects, the country needs approximately 5Mta, according to the organisation. Swiss cement plants covered 86 per cent of supply requirements in 2019 – the remaining 14 per cent were covered by imports. Without new permits, the share of domestic cement production would fall to approximately 64 per cent from 2024. If expansion projects were given the go-ahead, this drop would be postponed to the end of 2023.

However, while Switzerland has abundant deposits of limestone and marl, access to these materials is partially limited for some cement plants due to growing conflicts between in opposing interests in the protection and use of land and opposition to plans to expand extraction sites, according to AllNews.

Responsibility for authorising extraction sites lies primarily with the cantons and municipalities.