Project Y

in the food industry killed the pork belly. Raw material
for the industrial production of modern goods and
products became much more important.
the Market deterMines the Price
Trading in resources (that are dealt at international
stock exchanges as their own asset category with high
volatility) is a major part of speculations. This constitutes
a critical factor for companies in the construction
industry. Costs have to be calculated at a time when
the purchase price at a delivery date can hardly be estimated.
Large construction companies tended for quite
a while to create and secure their own resources such as
gravel pits.
In 2002 Austria alone produced more than 100 million
tons (approximation) of raw minerals such as sand,
gravel, natural stone, lime, adobe, clay, marl, slate,
gypsum or other industrial minerals. This equates to a
value of about 1.1 billion Euro and in total secures about
14,600 jobs in sectors such as construction industry,
farming, transportation and municipalities. Without
mineral resources such products as houses, streets, water
channels, glasses, TVs, computers, mobile phones,
medications or cosmetics would simply not exist.
The need on raw construction material is 10 tons per
year and person. In areas with a high population density
this need is even higher. Tendency increasing. An
20 sec. // CMe – ChiCAGo MerCAntile exChAnGe
The once legendary pork belly trading place ‘chicago board of Trade (cbOT)’ merged in 2008
with the world‘s second largest trading place for derivatives, ‘cMe group inc.’. The 60s saw
the beginning of highly risky commodities futures with pork belly. Speculators from around
the world were drawn by its incredible volatility. As the food industry started to change in
the 90s the great pork belly era drew to a close. in 1992 the platform ‘globex’ introduced
electronic trading at cMe. in 2006 the ‘globex’ traded papers already covered 72 % of the
volume of all trading combined. This is equivalent to a value of 1,015 billion Dollar.
TERMS
Futures: A deal on the purchase/sale
of a good at a later point in time and at
a firmly fixed prices
Volatility: The degree of variance in
financial market parameters (prices of
shares etc.)
Asset category: Description of a
fund‘s investment policy.
average of 450 tons of raw mineral is needed for a family
home with basement. A single kilometre of motorway
even requires 160,000 tons.
econologY vs. econoMY
DEcological factors drastically increased the requirements
placed on mining and processing raw materials.
Emissions and energy consumption must be reduced
considerably and renaturation and recultivation measures
taken into account. Top of the list is the protection
of habitats of endangered fauna and flora.
The high demand on the quality of raw materials affects
availability as well costs to control these properties.
Mining opportunities become less and less as the population
density and environmental awareness increase.
This results in longer and more expensive transportation
routes and an increasing environmental burden.
Thus recycling wins importance. Reducing the production
of raw minerals would reduce the national production
by a factor of 9.34. The construction industry
would be affected considerably.
A shortage of raw minerals however is not likely. And
price variations on raw material markets are manageable
provided pork belly isn’t used for construction. //
Ü
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