The Advisory Council of Arid of Catalonia foresees difficulties in the recovery of the activity rates associated with the sector due to the health emergency of Covid-19. At its last meeting (held in November), this working group discussed the situation of mining operations in Catalonia and their environmental impact, and analyzed demand and future prospects. The analysis of the available data shows a significant drop in bidding during 2020, where only the municipalities are showing a minimum commitment when it comes to continuing to feed the public works portfolio. A decrease in activity is also expected in housing construction, non-residential building, civil engineering, aggregate production and cement consumption.
For 2021, the Advisory Council warns of the existence of reasons to moderate expectations. In the first place, due to the lack of realization of the government plan to recover the economy. Also because, in the best of cases, EU funds will not begin to arrive until the second half of the year and, in addition, the Chamber of Contractors estimates that only 15% of the funds will be dedicated to construction. Lastly, ITeC estimates that 40% of the funds allocated to construction will be for energy projects, relegating road and rail infrastructures, and those related to water or telecommunications to a second plane.
During the meeting, the Situation Report on open-pit mining in Catalonia for 2019 was also presented. A total of 423 operations employ more than 2,500 people. During the year, 29.6 million tons of aggregates were extracted, and the initial forecast for 2020 was that it would reach 30.4. With an investment of 10.7 million euros, sales for the year amounted to € 130 million.
The Aggregates Advisory Council is a multisectoral body of the Generalitat dedicated to analyzing the demand for aggregates and promoting their sustainable production. It is made up of representatives from various departments of the Generalitat, as well as private sector entities such as the College of Mining Engineers, the Arid Association of Catalonia or Ciment Català, among others.