Production

Asphalt production in Slovenia did not reach two million tons in 2023, but it remains quite stable and at the average level of the last 5-year period. 16 companies produced a total of 1.924 million tons of asphalt mixtures, or 6.5% less than the previous year. The number of asphalt plants has not changed compared to the previous year (18), but the review of annual production by plants shows slightly larger fluctuations between 2022 and 2023, from minus 35% to plus 25%. The average annual production at the plant in Slovenia remains high, at around 107,000 tons, but it varies considerably between manufacturers and ranges from less than 30,000 to more than 350,000 tons.

In 2023, approximately 1,480,000 tons (83%) of carbonate and 301,000 tons (17%) of silicate stone fractions and almost 90,000 tons of bituminous binders were used for the production of asphalt mixtures in Slovenia. Classic road construction bitumen was 73,200 tons or 81.5%, and 16,600 tons or 18.5% with polymers of modified bitumen. Compared to the previous year, the share of PmB bitumens increased, which indicates a larger share of asphalt production for installation on highway sections. According to the data received from the manufacturers, 47,000 tons of asphalt granulate were used as recyclate in the production process, which represents only a good 2.5% of the stone fractions used for the production of asphalt mixtures last year.

Also last year, the largest amount of asphalt mixtures for wear-stop layers (AC surf) was produced, a total of almost 917,000 tons or almost half of the total amount, followed by mixtures for the carrier layers (AC base) 748,000 t, binding layers AC bin more than 152,000 t. The share of the mixture of SMA 97,000 t and PA 10,000 t increased noticeably last year compared to 2022, due to the increased volume of works on the highway program.

The following also shows data on asphalt production at the level of Europe for the year 2022, summarized according to the publication “Asphalt in figures 2022” published by the European Asphalt Association EAPA. Production in the EU-27 amounted to 212.5 million tons and was compared to last year. 2021 by 3.7% lower. In all European countries together, including Great Britain, Norway, Serbia, Switzerland and Turkey, annual production amounted to 279.4 million tons (-3.9% compared to 2021).

As usual, Germany produced the most asphalt among all countries, 39 million tons, followed by Italy with 37.6, France 30.7 and Turkey 30.1, Great Britain 24.2, Poland 19 and Spain with 17.1 million tons annual production. Our neighboring countries, however, produced in 2022; Austria 6.5, Hungary 4.5 and Croatia 2.8 million tons of asphalt.