The analysis of the Greek Ministry of Environment & Energy’s aggregated mineral resources report for 2020 has revealed essential figures for the marble sector.
According to the analysis, the existing licenses for exploiting marble quarries were 258, while the new permits for exploiting marble quarries were 24. Furthermore, the amount of marble exports is presented, which reached 240.000m³ or 720.000ton, and the value of marble exports reached 157.000.00€. At the same time, the average selling price of the exported marbles had reached 650€/m³ or 217€/ton.
In addition, as shown in the analysis, the direct annual revenue for the public income from the royalties of the quarries was €15,641,000. At the same time, the value of guarantees for compliance with environmental conditions reached €31,295,000. Finally, the number of people directly employed (within quarries) was 2,000.
If one considers the total operating costs, excluding depreciation, to be 90-120€/ton, the profit margin shows a significant increase of at least 2 to 4 times. Therefore, even in a pandemic year, there is financial space for quarrying companies to have easy access to financial institutions and investment funds, to invest in new, “green” and safe mechanical mining and transport equipment, to support the R&D (which is practically non-existent in quarrying and reached only €1,260,000 for 2020, i.e. 0.01% of export value), to employ qualified and highly paid scientific and technical staff, and to promote and act through all means of promotion and marketing of the brand “Greek marble”.
Finally, it is worth noting that the consequential intentions and medium-term strategic moves of the quarrying companies are expected to overcome the “pitfall” of the recession in China and energy costs.
