The mineral products industry is an essential, indigenous, and major primary producer in its own right - but it is also locked into the DNA of a whole host of other important industries. We are the largest supplier to the construction industry, and sectors such as housing and property along with transport, energy and water infrastructure all rely upon the supply of mineral products of one type or another.
Industrial minerals such as industrial sand, lime and clays are also critical for a wide range of uses such as the manufacture of glass, iron and steel, industrial emissions processing, ceramics, soil improvement and the manufacture of a range of pharmaceutical products.
In short, the mineral resources and products we provide are essential to the development and maintenance of UK infrastructure and for the improvement of people’s everyday lives.
The flow of essential mineral products such as aggregates (sand, gravel and crushed rock), asphalt, cement, concrete, dimension stone, lime, mortar and silica sand into the economy makes us the nation’s biggest materials producer - a total of 419 million tonnes of minerals and mineral products each year. Each and every working day, the sector delivers 1.7 tonnes of raw materials and manufactured goods to its supply chain – the largest material flow in the economy. No other industry can match this.
This means the £22 billion mineral products industry – employing 80,000 people – is one of our country’s biggest manufacturing sectors.
Furthermore, unlike many other raw materials such as steel and timber, over 90% of the aggregates and associated mineral products used in Britain are locally sourced and manufactured here.